
Book .A^ A ^ 

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR 

BUREAU OF FISHERIES 

GEORGE M. BOWERS, Commi«sioner 



THE 

COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA 

IN 1905 



Bureau of Fisheries Document No, 603 




WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1906 



1 1 



/ 




^7^ 



THE COMMERCIAL nSHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905 

By John N, Cobb 

Assistant Agent at the Salmon Fisheries of Alaska 



Bureau of Fisheries Document No, 603 



OCT 20 1906 
D. Of D. 






)^' K^ ^^ 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Introduction 5 

Importance of the Alaskan fisheries 5 

The fishing grounds 7 

The cod fishery 9 

History 9 

Fishing banks 10 

Fishing stations 12 

Vessel fisheries 13 

Statistics 14 

The halibut fishery 15 

History 15 

Fishing grounds 16 

Methods of the fishery .'." 17 

Preparation of the catch 18 

The herring fishery 20 

History 20 

Fishing grounds 21 

Statistics 21 

The salmon industry 23 

Canneries 23 

Salteries 24 

Freezing salmon 25 

Hatcheries 25 

Fertilizer plants 28 

Aquatic furs 29 

Miscellaneous aquatic animals 33 

General statistics for 1905 38 

Other fisher>^ resources of Alaska 43 

Fisheries carried on in Alaskan waters and credited to places outside of the district . . 45 

3 



THE COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905, 



By John N. Cobb, 
Assistant Agent at the Salmon Fisheries of Alaska. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The salmon and seal fisheries of Alaska constitute such conspicuous 
features of the fishing industry in that region that published reports 
have to a great extent neglected the other aquatic resources, and no 
complete compilation of statistics has ever been made. The Tenth 
(1880) and Eleventh (1890) censuses covered the ground partially, but 
the census agents had to deal with all phases of Alaskan endeavor and 
their reports upon the commercial fisheries were consequently not so 
complete as could be desired. The salmon fishery was treated by 
them in considerable detail, and has been canvassed and reported upon 
very fully by the Bureau of Fisheries.'^ The seal fishery has been the 
subject of investigation and legislation recorded in many volumes 
published by the Treasury Department, and more recently in the 
reports of the Department of Commerce and Labor. No special can- 
vass of the other fisheries, however, has heretofore been made, the 
information published at varying periods by the Bureau of Fisheries 
being such as could be gathered by its agents at San Francisco in con- 
nection with their canvass of the Pacific coast states. 

The data presented in the following pages for the year 1905 are the 
result of the writer's personal canvass of a portion of the region and 
the collection of reports from various fishing firms and officials of the 
government in Alaska. A history and recapitulation of results of the 
various fisheries is also given. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE ALASKAN FISHERIES. 

Long before the acquisition of Alaska was even dreamt of by our 
statesmen its wealth in fishery products was known, by hearsay at 
least, to the hard}^ mariners of the Pacific coast, as well as to the 

a The salmon and salmon fisheries of Alaska. Report of the operations of the U. S. Fish 
Commission Steamer Albatross for the year ending June 30, 1898, by Jefferson F. Moser. 
Bulletin U. S. Fish Commission 1898, vol. xviii, 1899, p. 1-178, pi. 1-63, charts a and b. 
Idem, 1900 and 1901, Bulletin 1901, vol. xxi, 1902, p. 173-398 and 299*-401*, pi. i-xliv, 
pi. A and charts A, B. 

6 



6 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

whalers from New Bedford, Mass., and other Atlantic ports, who fre- 
quented the waters of the north Pacific and Arctic oceans. In the 
memorial to the President of the United States adopted by the legisla- 
ture of Washington Territory in the winter of 1 866 especial stress was 
laid upon the fishery resources of the territory and the need for an 
arrangement with Russia by which our fishing vessels would be 
enabled to resort to the Alaskan harbors for shelter and to procure 
fuel, water, and provisions. Even at that time our fishermen were 
engaged in cod fishing on the Alaskan banks, the first vessel having 
gone there in 1863, while our whalers had been working in Bering Sea 
and along the Arctic shore for years. 

The treaty of cession between Russia and the United States was 
signed March 30, 1867, ratified by the wSenate May 28, and proclaimed 
by the President June 20 of the same year. Formal and actual pos- 
session was taken on the 16th of the following October. Much doubt 
was expressed in this country as to the wisdom of paying so large a 
sum of money for such an apparently sterile region as Alaska, and it 
was feared that the expenditure would never be justified. Such cal- 
culations were much at fault, however. The United States has not 
only been more than reimbursed directly, but through the fisheries 
alone has been many times compensated for the fiinancial outlay. The 
rental from the fur-seal islands has more than paid the initial cost of 
the district, and at the present time the tax derived from the salmon 
fishery amounts to about $90,000 a year. 

The following table shows, so far as it has been possible to secure 
reliable information, the quantity and value of fishery products secured 
in Alaskan waters from 1868 to 1905 (both inclusive). In some 
instances, where but rather fragmentary data could be obtained, esti- 
mates based upon the figures in hand have been inserted for the missing 
years. The second column in the table shows the products in units 
as put on the market, but in the third column all have been reduced to 
pounds for convenience in comparison. The dates given indicate the 
number of years the fishery in question has been prosecuted. No 
account has been taken in this table of the very extensive intertribal 
commerce of the natives in fishery products, as there are no accurate 
data for this feature. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 7 

Quantity and Value of the Fishery Products of Alaska Marketed in Stated 

Years, 1868 to 1905. 



Species. 



Quantity. 



Prepared 
weight. 



Value. 



Codfish (1868-1905) pounds. 

Halibut (1890-1905) do . . . 

Herring (1878-1905) do . . . 

Guano do. . . 

Oil gallons. 

Salmon ( 1868-1905) pounds. 

Sardines, canned (1904) cases. 

Trout (1904-5) pounds. 

Fish oil, other than herring (1890-1905) gallons. 

Fish guano, other than herring (1904-5) pounds. 

Clams, canned (1898-99, 1903-4) cases. 

Walrus ivory (1868-1905) pounds. 

Walrus oil (1868-1905) .gallons. 

Whalebone (1868-1905) b pounds. 

Whale oil (1868-1905) b gallons. 

Beaver (1868-1905) number. 

Muslvrat (1868-1905) do. . . 

Otter: 

Land (1868-1905) do. . . 

Sea (1868-1905) do. . . 

Seals: 

Fur (1868-1905) do . . . 

Hair (1868-1905) b do. . . 

Total 



156, 125, 684 

37, 999, 506 

10, 365, 877 

29, 319, 800 

4,281,420 

a 1, 517, 944, 726 

3,173 

55, 382 

30, 486 

1,800 

1,137 

843, 930 

3, 064, 001 

246, 166 

26, 518 

150, 683 

251,225 

93, 272 
107, 121 

3, 345, 784 
191,042 



Pounds. 

116,511,629 

29, 630, 373 

7, 793, 885 

29,319,800 

32,110,650 

1,141,319,343 

152, 304 

• 44,306 

228, 645 

1,800 

54, 576 

843, 930 

22, 980, 007 

246, 166 

198, 885 

150, 683 

31,403 

233, 430 
535, 605 

20,074,704 
573, 126 



1,403,035,250 



$4, 072, 626 

921,562 

202, 492 

349, 349 

1,055,368 

68, 818, 792 

12, 059 

2,307 

8,657 

30 

4,440 

343, 542 

1, 582, 219 

567, 417 

15,911 

752,011 

13, 123 

497,041 
10, 732, 867 

47, 896, 383 
194, 442 



138,042,638 



a Includes 21,784,106 cases of canned salmon, with an estimated value of $3 per case. 
b Estimated from data covering a portion of the period. 



THE FISHING GROUNDS. 

The district of Alaska is enormous in extent, being equal to nearly 
one-sixth of the United States proper. The total length of mainland 
from southeast to northwest is about 1,150 miles, the greatest width 
is about 800 miles, and the area is about 590,000 square miles. 
Because of the thousands of islands scattered along the coast, or, as 
in the case of the Aleutian chain, extending out to sea hundreds of 
miles, the district has an exceedingly long coast line and one well 
adapted to fishing, owing to the many large and safe bays, the shel- 
tered channels between the islands and the mainland, and the numer- 
ous rivers which debouch from the mainland. The Nushagak River is 
to-day one of the important fishing streams of the world. 

Following is a list of the fishing banks of importance off the Alaskan 
coast and in adjacent foreign waters so far as they have been discov- 
ered and charted. Notwithstanding the extensive fishing in this 
region, there are doubtless many fishing banks still unknown. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



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COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 9 

THE COD FISHERY. 
HISTORY. 

The presence of cod along the Alaskan coast has been known for 
many years. The first mention was made by a Russian navigator in 
1765, who reported "cod, perch, pilchards, smelts" as being found 
around the Fox Islands. Other navigators and explorers who 
reported the presence of cod were Cook (1786), Portlock (1787), 
Meares, Billmgs (1792), Langsdorf (1804), Sutke, and Sir George 
Simpson (1841), all of whom speak of it as being a very common fish. 
But little use was made of it, however, owing to the abundance of 
salmon. Early in the sixties American vessels from Sin Francisco 
discovered and fished on the cod banks in the Okhotsk Sea, the first 
American vessel to visit Alaskan waters apparently being the schooner 
Alert, which made a voyage to Bristol Bay in 1863. She secured but 
9 tons of cod, however, the captain's principal incentive to make the 
trip probably being to trade with the natives. 

On March 27, 1865, Captam Matthew Turner, with the schooner 
Porpoise (45 tons), of San Francisco, sailed for Alaska, and arrived 
at the Shumagin Islands May 1 . The vessel returned on July 7 with 
30 tons of cod, having left the banks early in order to get back to San 
Francisco before the Okhotsk fleet. This was the first fare ever 
taken from around the Shumagins, one of the best grounds in Alaska. 
The Simeonoff Bank was discovered by the Minnie S. Atkins in 1867. 

The acquisition of Alaska by the United States in 1867 proved a 
boon to the cod fishermen, as it secured the Americans, who did all the 
fishing, from any interference on the part of the owners of ALska. 
This is well shown by the fact that while the fleet in 1867 numbered 
3 vessels, with a catch of 136,000 fish, the fleet of 1868 comprised 14 
vessels, which made a catch of 608,000 fish. 

It was early discovered that the time required for the vessels to 
reach the banks from San Francisco and return was wasted, and in 
1876 T. W. McCollam & Co., which firm later merged into the Union 
Fish Company, one of the first to engage in the fishery on a large 
scale, established a permanent fishing station at Pirate Cove on Popoff 
Isknd, one of the Shumagin group. From this station fishermen in 
dories went out each day, returning m the evening with the day's 
catch. In this way fishing could be carried on the year through, and 
the plan was followed as time went on until now nearly all of the com- 
panies operating vessels in Alaska have one or more stations. Cer- 
tain vessels are employed in carrying supplies to these stations from 
the home ports and in taking back the cod caught. 

The first Alaskan vessel in the fishery was one owned by Captain 
Haley, of Wrangell, w^ho in 1879 fished on the Hoochenoo Bank in 
Frederick Sound, and sold his catch in Wrangell for $100 per ton. 
The regular Bering Sea fishery was inaugurated by the Tropic Bird in 
1883. 

7115—06 2 



10 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

For years the fishery was followed by San Francisco firms only, but 
in 1891 Capt. J. A. Matheson, of Anacortes, Wash., brought the 
schooner Lizzie Colby (142 tons) around Cape Horn and sent her to 
Bering Sea, and he has continued in the fishery there ever since. The 
Western Canadian Fish Company, of Vancouver, British Columbia, 
sent a vessel to Bering Sea in 1903 and continued the venture until 
1905, when the company failed. The Robinson Fisheries Company, 
of Anacortes, and the Seattle and Alaska Fish Company, of Seattle, 
sent their first vessels to Alaska in 1904. In 1905 King & Wing, of 
Seattle, and the Blom Codfish Company, of Tacoma, entered the 
fishery. 

FISHING BANKS. 

While most of the fishing banks were known to the fishermen in a 
general way, it remained for the steamer Albatross to survey and plat 
them during her investigations in Alaskan waters from 1888 to 1892.° 

Following is a summarized description of the banks, first those in 
Bering Sea: 

■Slime Bank. — This is the first of the larger fishing grounds reached 
after entering Bering Sea through Unimak Pass. The bank begins 
directly off the Northwest Cape of Unimak Island, is elongate in 
shape, and follows approximately the trend of the adjacent coast to 
within a few miles of Amak Island, its inner margin lying only a short 
distance off the land. It is about 85 miles in length and 17 miles in 
average width, broadening somewhat at the eastern end; its total 
area is estimated at about 1,445 square miles, and the depths range 
from 20 to 50 fathoms. The bank derives its name from the presence 
of immense numbers of a large jelly-fish, measuring from 6 to 18 inches 
across the disk, and provided with long, slender tentacles having 
great stinging powers. These animals are not found upon the sur- 
face, but seem to occupy an intermediate zone toward the bottom, 
where at times they occasion much annoyance to the fishermen by 
becoming entangled with the fishing gear. 

Baird or Moller Banlc. — This is the largest bank yet discovered on 
the Alaskan coast. It commences a few miles east of Amak Island 
and extends northeastward off the northern side of the Alaska penm- 
sula to the vicinity of Cape Chichago at the mouth of Ugaguk River, 
a distance of about 230 miles. It has an average width of about 40 
miles and an extreme width of 58 mOes, its total area being estimated 
at about 9,200 square miles. The boundaries have not been thor- 
oughly established, and possibly comprise a greater area than is 
stated above. 

In Kulukak Bay are numerous spots where cod are found, but none 
are of sufficient size to entitle them to be called banks. 

o Fishery investigations of the steamer Albatross from July 1, 1888, to July 1, 1892, 
by Richard Rathbun. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 1892, p. 127-201. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 11 

Gravel Bank. — Fishermen sometimes visit this small bank, which 
lies about 16 miles southwest from the southern end of Hagemeister 
Island, and they state that large cod are abundant there. The depths 
are from 16 to 20 fathoms. 

The Albatross investigations were not carried north of Cape Newen- 
ham. According to Petroff, in the Tenth Census, codfish have been 
reported at a few points along the Arctic coast, but no banks have been 
located, ver}^ likely because no effort has been made to find them. 

Unalasha Harbor, etc. — Fishermen have reported cod banks in the 
neighborhood of Unalaska Harbor, but the investigations of the Alba- 
tross do not seem to sustain the claim. The cod fishing directly off 
Chernoffsky Bay is said to be excellent. 

On the southern side of the Alaskan peninsula are the following 
banks : 

Davidson Bank. — This bank was discovered about 1870 by Prof. 
George Davidson, of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
after whom it is named. It lies south of Unimak Island, and ex- 
tends westward from the neighborhood of the Sannak Islands to about 
the longitude of the southern entrance to Unimak Pass (about longi- 
tude 164° 40' W.). Its eastern end is continuous with the shoal 
water surrounding the Sannak Islands; its area was estimated at 
about 1,600 square miles. 

Sannak Bank. — To the east and southeast of the islands of the 
same name lies Sannak Bank, somewhat elongate in shape and 
trending in a general way northeast and southwest. It is estimated 
to have an area of about 1,300 square miles. 

The region between Sannak Bank and the Shumagin Islands was 
only partly surveyed, but about 1,800 square miles fairly well adapted 
to fishing were covered. 

Shumagin Bank. — Lying to the south and southeast of the Shuma- 
gin Islands, with its outer margin following approximately the trend 
of the coast line formed by the adjacent islands, is Shumagin Bank, 
which has been traced westward to about longitude 159° 52' W., but 
probably extends farther in that direction; east of the Shumagin 
Islands it reaches north to the latitude of Big Koniuji Island. Its 
width inside of the 100 -fathom curve varies from 15 to 35 miles, while 
its area has been estimated at about 1,800 square miles. 

From the Shumagin Islands to Kadiak Islaiid the area was only 
partially surveyed, but the work done indicated the existence of sev- 
eral fishing banks. 

Albatross Bank. — Off the southeastern side of Kadiak Island is 
Albatross Bank, extending the entire length of that island as well as 
in front of the Trinity Islands. At the eastern end it is practically 
continuous with Portlock Bank. Along some portions of the coast, 
as in the neighborhood of Sitkalidak Island, the bank is separated 



12 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

from the land by comparatively deep water, while in other places 
shoal water intervenes. The 100-fathom curve is distant 25 to 45 
miles from the land, inside of which limit there is an estimated area 
of 3,700 square miles. 

Porilock Bank. — This bank extends northeastward from Kadiak 
Island in the direction of Middleton Island, a distance of about 120 
miles, and is irregular in shape. It is the largest single bank south 
of the Alaska peninsula, its area inside of the 100-fathom curve being 
about 6,800 square miles. 

The Albatross continued her investigations as far to the eastward 
as Middleton Island, but no banks were found. 

Codfish have been reported in the western part of the Gulf of Alaska 
and in the waters of Southeast Alaska, but nowhere do there seem to 
be any banks which it would be profitable to work with vessels espe- 
cially devoted to this fishery. 

FISHING STATIONS. 

At the present time nearly one-half of the codfish taken in Alaska 
are caught by fishermen from the numerous stations scattered along 
the Alaska peninsula and the islands adjacent thereto on the south- 
ern side. The business of fishing from stations has fluctuated con- 
siderably from year to year. The year 1892 was the banner year, 
2,208,035 pounds of fish being taken by fishermen from stations, to 
1,742,155 pounds secured by the fishing vessels. The stations soon 
after began to be abandoned, and for a few years but few were in 
operation. Of late years, however, they have regained their popu- 
larity, and it is probably only a question of a few years until all of 
the cod fishing outside of Bering Sea will be carried on from the shore 
stations. During the season of 1905 the following stations were 
operated. 

Union Fish Company.— Pirate Cove, Popofi^ Island; Northwest 
Harbor, Big Koniuji Island; Sanborn Harbor, Wedge Cape, and 
Eagle Harbor, on Nagai Island; Pavlof Harbor and Johnsons Har- 
bor, on Sannak Island. 

Alaska Codfish Company. — Moft'etts Cove and Companys Har- 
bor, on Sannak Island; Dora Harbor, on Alaska peninsula; and Win- 
chester and Banenhoff, on Unga Island. 

Seattle- Alaska Fish Company. — Squaw Harbor, on Unga Island. 

Aleutian Live Stock and Mining Company. — Lost Harbor, Akun 
Island. 

This year (1906) the Pacific States Trading Company is erecting 
two stations on the Shumagin group. 

Nearly all of these stations are open the whole year round, the 
fishermen going out in their dories each day when the weather is 
favorable, and but rarely having to go more than 5 miles from any of 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OP ALASKA IN 1905. 13 

the stations before good fishing grounds are reached. There is usually 
one man to a boat and trawl lines are quite generally employed, 
although a few hand lines are used. In good w^eather the trawls are 
hauled two or three times a day, but the fish are not dressed until 
the last haul for the day has been made. 

When not out in the dories the fisherman's time is his own. He 
is paid from $25 to $30 per thousand fish of 26 or more inches in 
length, and he must dress and salt them. The wage is less for fish 
under 26 inches. The station owner furnishes the men with boats, 
lodging, food, and fuel, the fishermen providing only the fishing gear. 
The catch is kench cured, and later shipped away to San Francisco 
and Puget Sound ports on the transporting vessels, where the final 
curing is accomplished. 

VESSEL FISHERIES. 

Nearly all of the fleet fish in Bering Sea, where the banks are 
too far from the shore for shore fishing, or where harbors are not 
available. 

With the exception of three vessels which use trawl lines, all fish- 
ing is w4th hand lines from dories, one man to a boat. The fisher- 
men do not dress and salt their own catch, as is the custom on the 
Atlantic coast, but each vessel carries a dressing gang, varying with 
the number of fishermen, and a splitter and Salter, who do this work. 
The captain usually receives about $125 per month; the cook, $75; 
the first mate, $40; the second mate, $35; the fishermen, $25 and 
$27 per 1,000 fish, according to the size; dressing gang, $25 per 
month each, and the splitter and Salter, $75 per month. All hands 
get board also. When not engaged in their regular work the 
dressing gang usually fish over the side of the vessel and are paid 
$25 per 1,000 for all fish so caught. A vessel usually makes but 
one trip to the banks, leaving in the spring and returning in the 
late summer or early fall, but sometimes if she meets with good 
luck on her first trip she will make a second one. The fish are 
salted in bulk in the hold of the vessel, about 1 ton of salt being 
required for 1,000 fish, and the balance of the curing is done at the 
vessel's home port. The crew have nothing to do with unloading 
the vessel, that work being done by the employees at the home 
station. 

The principal bait used in both shore and vessel fisheries is hali- 
but, sculpins, and cuttlefish. In hand-lining only a small quantity 
of bait is brought on the vessels, because after the first few^ hours' 
fishing the shack fish brought up will suffice for baiting. For 
trawling, however, more bait is required, and the stations generally 
gather it at various places and furnish it to the fishermen either 
fresh or salted, as may be most convenient. 



14 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



Certain of the vessels do nothing but ply between the stations and 
the home ports, bringing up supplies and carrying back the salted 
fish. These vessels make from three to four trips a year. 

But few of the tongues, sounds, and livers of the cod are saved, 
either in shore or vessel fisheries, 

STATISTICS. 

The table below shows, by years, the condition of the fishery since 
its inception, in 1863. An interesting feature of this table is that 
while the average cured weight of a codfish was slightly over 2f 
pounds in 1868, in 1905 the average had risen to 4 pounds. This 
is due to the fact that the vessels now work largely on the outer 
banks, where the fish are larger than on the banks close to shore, 
which were the ones from which most of the fish came in the early 
days of the fishery. For some years the fishery was almost sta- 
tionary, owing to the lack of an expanding market for Pacific cod, 
but during the past five years the demand has been cjuite heavy and 
has resulted in a considerable increase in the fleet and a correspond- 
ing increase in the catch. 

Vessels Engaged in Cod Fishing in Alaskan Waters, Together with the Quantity 
AND Value of Cod Taken, 1863 to 1905. 



Year. 


Ves- 
sels. 


Fish taken. 


SaltPd 
weight. 


Value. 


Year. 


Ves- 
sels. 


Fish taken. 


Salted 
weight. 


Value. 


1863a 

1865 6 

1886 

1867 

1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 c 

1877 

1878d 

1879 

1880e 

1881 

1882/ 

ISSZg 

1884 

1885 


1 
1 
2 
3 

14 
8 

10 
6 
3 
4 
4 
4 
6 
7 
9 

10 
5 
3 
9 
9 
5 
8 


6,000 
24,000 
40,000 
136,000 
608,000 
412,800 
506,200 
304,800 
120,000 
220,000 
152,400 
201,600 
303,200 
300,000 
.524,000 
696,000 
289,000 
297,000 
.529,000 
737,000 
655,000 
881,000 


Pounds. 

18,000 

60,000 

90,000 

.340,000 

1,684,480 

1,032,000 

1,265,500 

914,400 

360,000 

660,000 

457,200 

604,800 

909, 600 

900,000 

1,574,000 

2,088,000 

867,000 

891,000 

1,587,000 

2,211,000 

1,965,000 

2,643,000 


?2,340 
7,800 
11,700 
42,500 
202, 138 
92,880 
82,258 
64,008 
25,200 
39,600 
27,432 
42,336 
54,576 
45,000 
78,700 
83,. 520 
43,350 
44,550 
63,480 
88,440 
98,250 
70,290 


1886 

1887 

1888ft.... 

1889 

1890 

1891 J 

1892 

1893 J.... 

1894 

1895 

1896...... 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902*.... 
1903^.... 

1904 

1905 m ... 

Total . . 


7 
6 
6 
4 
4 
8 
6 
6 
5 
6 
9 
10 
10 
11 
10 
10 
12 
13 
16 
21 


794,000 

795,000 

735,000 

620,000 

771,580 

1,188,000 

1,312,000 

1,216,000 

894,000 

847,637 

728,000 

1,065,000 

817,000 

1,377,000 

1,565,725 

1,504,000 

2.248,000 

2,177,000 

2,742,111 

3,030,836 


Pounds. 

2,382,000 
2,385,000 
2,386,000 
1,560,000 
2,314,740 
3,751,711 
3,936,000 
3,648,000 
2,682,000 
2,542,910 
2,184,000 
3,195,000 
2,451,000 
5,508,000 
6,067,000 
6,016,000 
8,992,000 
8,708,000 
11,064,944 
12,123,344 


S83,370 

71,. 5.50 

,59,847 

,39, 150 

57,868 

93,793 

118,080 

109,440 

80, 460 

76,290 

76,440 

127,800 

122,. 5.50 

206,550 

218,5,50 

180,480 

269,760 

261,240 

261,316 

303,084 




34,270,889 


117,019,029 


4,136,966 











a First vessel to fish for cod in Bristol Bay. 
b Beginning of the Shumagin Islands fishing. 
c Shore fishing station established at Pirate Cove. 
d One vessel lost. 

e Schooner Nagay lost in the spring. 
/ Schooners General Miller and H. L. Tiernan lost. 
g Schooner Wild Gazelle lost, 
ft Schooner Isabel lost with 14 men. 
i Schooner Dashing Wave lost. 
i Schooner John Hancock lost. 
* Schooner Anna lost with full cargo. 

I Includes schooner Blakeley, of Vancouver, British Columbia; 2 Seattle (Wash.) firms began this 
year; schooner Mary and Ida lost with 78,000 fish. 
"» Schooner Pearl lost with 30 men; schooner NelUe Coleman lost with all on board. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 15 

THE HALIBUT FISHERY. 
HISTORY, 

The halibut is now one of the most extensively sought species in our 
commercial fisheries. For many years the Atlantic banks amply sup- 
plied the constantly growing demand, but ultimately these began to 
show the efl^ects of the heavy drain upon them, and then the impor- 
tant eastern fishing companies began to turn their attention to the 
Pacific, where large banks had been reported. 

The inception of the industry on the Pacific coast may be said to 
have been about twenty-one years ago, when several schooners from 
Port Townsend, Wash., began to fish off Cape Flattery, but their 
catches were small. A few years later an eastern fish firm established 
a branch at Tacoma, which caused a transfer of the business almost 
entirely to that city. In the meantime, a demand had been created 
in the West for Pacific halibut, and in a few years more the fish 
houses of Seattle began to compete for the fish caught by the schooners, 
with the result that the trade shifted to that city, and the bulk of 
the schooner trade has been done there ever since. At the present 
time the International Fisheries Company, of Tacoma, a connec- 
tion of an eastern house, handles the bulk of the steamer trade on 
the American side, while the New England Fish Company, of Van- 
couver, British Columbia, handles the bulk of the steamer trade on 
the Canadian side. The latter company, however, is an American 
corporation, with American-built vessels, and nearly all of its catch 
enters this country in bond free of duty. Both companies have 
special arrangements with the transcontinental lines by which their 
fish, fresh in refrigerator cars, are rushed through by passenger service, 
thus enabling the companies to place the fish on the Boston and 
Gloucester markets in from six to seven days after it is landed on the 
coast. 

The New England Fish Company was the first to employ steamers 
in the fishery, beginning in 1897. At present it operates three steam- 
ers, while the Tacoma company has four steamers employed in fishing 
and transporting. Within the last year several steamers and power 
boats have been fitted out at Seattle to engage in the industry. 

It was about 1895 when the southeast Alaska banks began to be 
resorted to by Seattle schooners in the winter, it not being possible 
to do anything on the Cape Flattery banks at that season of the year, 
and the British Columbia banks being closed to them. Most of the 
vessels fished around Dixons Entrance, while others worked in 
Chatham Strait and Frederick Sound, the latter making their head- 
quarters in Wrangell Narrows and shipping the fish to Puget Sound 
ports on the regular steamers. The fishing was quite desultory, how- 



16 COMMEKCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

ever, until 1899, when the Icy Strait Packing Company built a salmon 
cannery and a wharf at Petersburg, near the upper end of Wrangell 
Narrows, and arranged with the steamship companies to make regular 
calls for freight. From that time on the business rapidly concen- 
trated at Petersburg, until now nearly all of the vessels make it their 
headquarters. 

Since then a great development of the Alaskan halibut fisheries has 
occurred. In addition to the Seattle fleet, which comes up each winter 
to remain during the season, a few Alaskan sail and power vessels 
have entered the fishery, A considerable part of the business, how- 
ever, is conducted on entirely different lines. A company or indi- 
vidual builds its plant in some place convenient to the fisheries and 
engages crews to go out in dories from day to day. Some have one 
central station and a number of subsidiary stations and employ a 
steamer to carry supplies from the former to the latter and bring back 
the fish caught. The principal halibut stations are Tee Harbor, Taku 
Harbor, Pleasant Bay, Wrangell Narrows, Ketchikan, Kake, Hoonah 
Village, Juneau, Fanshaw, Windom, and Farragut bays. At Tee 
Harbor and Taku Harbor large cold-storage plants are in operation in 
which the fish are frozen for shipment. 

In addition to the wharf at Petersburg there were located in 
Wrangeil Narrows in 1905 three large scows, each capable of taking 
care of from 200 to 400 boxes of halibut at a time. The schooners 
find it much easier to come alongside and discharge on these scows 
than on the wharf, while the steamer has very little difficulty in trans- 
ferring the boxes from the scow to its hold. The scows are resorted to 
almost exclusively by the schooners and other sailing vessels from 
Seattle. Most of the steamers and power boats that fish in Alaskan 
waters in winter return to their home port to unload as soon as a fare 
has been secured. They usually make about two trips a month to 
the banks. 

FISHING GROUNDS. 

In the Pacific the halibut ranges from Bering Sea on the north, as 
far as present knowledge extends, to San Francisco and the Farallones 
on the south. According to the observations of Dr. T. H. Bean, the 
center of abundance is in the Gulf of Alaska, particularl}^ off Kadiak 
and the Shumagin islands. Outside of Alaska the principal bank near 
American territory is found off Cape Flattery, in the mouth of the 
Straits of Fuca, in the state of Wasliington. Practically the entire 
catch by American vessels during the summer is made on this bank. 
In the winter months the supply comes entirely from scattering banks 
in southeastern Alaska, or from banks on the British Columbia coast 
outside the three-mile limit. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. ■ 17 

Of the former banks, Mr. A. B. Alexander", formerly fishery expert 
of the steamer Albatross, writes as follows: 

Across Dixon Entrance, on the south side of Prince of Wales Island, in the vicinity of 
Nicholas Bay and Cape Chacon, a few schooners have taken good fares. Here, as at Cape 
Scott, the ground is made up of small "spots," which can only be located by landmarks. 
Only a few vessels can fish on this ground; it is said that even a small fleet would soon 
exhaust the ground, not permanently, but for some weeks. The Indians of this locality 
catch halibut here in considerable numbers, and from these people the white fishermen soon 
learn the best places. 

* * * * * * ;): 

Halibut on the northern banks are sometimes very erratic; in places where they are 
numerous one day few will be found the next. It frequently happens that a vessel will 
have good success for several days, and in a few hours' time fish will become so scarce that it 
is useless to remain longer on the ground. It is thought the fish are traveling in schools 
from one bank to another. 

On all grounds halibut are more plentiful in winter than in summer and are scarcer in 
June than at any other time of the year. At this season they scatter all over. 

During the salmon-canning season (June to November) many hali- 
but are to be seen near the canneries, where they feed on the salmon 
offal thrown overboard. 

No effort has yet been made to fish the large banks in central and 
western Alaska, owing to the distance from markets and the poor 
shipping facilities, but ultimately these will furnish the bulk of the 
product. 

Very important grounds are located off the Queen Cha,rlotte Islands 
and along the coast of British Columbia, but most of these are barred 
to American fishermen because they are within the tliree-mile limit. 

It is barely possible that more extensive investigation would reveal 
the presence in southeast Alaska of large banks similar to those off the 
British Columbia coast. 

METHODS OF THE FISHERY. 

The method of catching halibut is almost the same as on the 
Atlantic coast. When the grounds are reached, the vessel scatters 
its dories around in favorable spots and then lies to for a while. 
There are generally two men to a dory. First the buoy is launched 
and the buoy line thrown out, this line being usually about 150 feet in 
length with an anchor attached to the end. The trawl lines in the 
vessel fisheries are generally about 1,800 feet in length, and usually 
three are joined together so as to make one continuous line. The 
gangings are about 5 feet long, are attached to the ground line, and 
are placed about 15 feet apart. They have the hooks and bait (usu- 
ally herring) attached, and are placed so as to rest on the bottom. 

o Notes on the halibut fishery of the northwest coast jn 1895, by A. B. Alexander. Bull. 
U: S. Fish Com., vol. xvii, 1897 (1898), p. 141-144. 

7115—06 3 



18 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

As soon as the buoy-line anchor has reached the bottom, the trawl is 
thrown from the side of the dory, and considerable skill is then neces- 
sary in order to place the trawl so that it will cover as much ground 
as possible and at the same time not get tangled up and crossed. In 
lifting the trawl the buoy line, with anchor, is taken in first and 
then the trawl. Sometimes a hurdy-gurdy (small windlass) is used 
in this work in order to facilitate matters. The fish are hauled to the 
surface, hit on the head with a club, unhooked, and thrown into the 
dory. Various other species besides the halibut are secured, but 
nearly all are thrown away. One of the greatest pests in the halibut 
fisheries of the Pacific, as well as of the Atlantic, is the dogfish, many 
of which get caught on the lines. They range in weight from 8 to 20 
pounds, and are utterly valueless to the fishermen. 

In the dory fishing from the regular Alaska shore stations the 
fishermen generally use 6 lines of about 150 feet each to each skate of 
gear, and 2 skates are used to a dory. Generally one skate is set out 
in the morning and the other in the afternoon. As a general thing 
the lines are set from one and a half to two hours and then taken up 
in the manner described above. 

Hand lines, occasionally employed by the white fishermen, are 
nearly always used by the natives, who attach hooks of a very primi- 
tive but quite effective shape. 

On the steamers the fishermen are generally paid from 20 to 25 
cents apiece for the fish caught, the owner of the vessel furnishing 
everything necessary for carrying on the fishery, including provisions. 
The fisherman receives the same price for a small fish as for a large 
one. On the schooners the fishing is generally done on shares, the 
vessel as a usual thing taking one-third and the crew the balance. 
Under this plan all the living expenses are taken from the returns 
before the division is made. The boat furnishes the gear. 

PREPARATION OF THE CATCH. 

In shipping fresh fish the entrails are removed and the fish packed 
in ice in boxes holding about 500 pounds net weight. The ice used 
is gathered from the neighboring glaciers, and is in the best form for 
use if ground in a mill made for the purpose, but often it is merely 
broken into fine lumps with a club. 

The large halibut and those secured where the opportunities for 
shipping are infrequent are fletched. In this process the two sides 
are taken off in two complete pieces, which are then put into bins and 
buried in salt so that the brine will run off. Here they remain from 
eight to ten days and are then repacked, being resalted if necessary, 
and allowed to remain until cured, when they are packed in boxes for 
shipment. A considerable part of this work is done during the sum- 
mer months when it is not profitable to ship halibut fresh. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 19 

Large quantities of halibut are prepared each year by the Indians 
for food in the winter season. The fish are cut in strips, partially 
dried in the open air, and then suspended in the smoke from the fires 
generally built on the floor in the center of most of the Indian houses. 

The possibility of developing an important and profitable industry 
in the canning of halibut has often been canvassed in Alaska, but the 
difficulty of interesting capital in an untried industrj', when the prof- 
its of salmon canning have been so sure for many years, has usually 
been too great for the promoters. The first halibut canned in Alaska 
were put up at the Klawak cannery in 1878, when 200 or 300 cases of 
2-pound cans (2 dozen cans in a case) were packed. This venture 
was continued for a few seasons, not more than 300 cases of 2-pound 
cans being packed in any one season, and then abandoned owing to the 
lack of a market for the product. In the summer of 1904 the Alaska 
Fish and Halibut Company opened a small cannery on Wrangell Nar- 
rows, just above Tonka, and put up an experimental pack of 41 cases 
of 1 -pound flats (48 cans to the case) . Some of the cases were shipped 
to Boston and other eastern points, and the balance distributed on 
the Pacific coast, where they have met with a very good reception. 
If the results of the experiment justify it, the company expects to put 
up a one-line cannery to be devoted exclusively to the packing of 
halibut. During the winter of 1904-5 the Juneau Packing Company, 
of Juneau, put up 36 1-pound cans as an experiment, and expects to 
enter into the business on a large scale should the goods meet with a 
favorable reception. The writer had an opportunity to see and taste 
these goods, and found them both pleasant to the eye and agreeable 
to the taste. The West Point Packing Company, at Petersburg, 
expected to put up a small pack in the winter of 1905-6. 

One very favorable feature of this industry, if it be established, is 
that it can be prosecuted at all seasons of the year. Salmon can- 
neries could be utilized when not engaged in the packing of salmon, 
thus saving the initial cost of a plant put up especially for halibut. 
The salmon canning season begins in June usually, and, with the 
exception of a few plants, closes by October. Halibut are most 
abundant during the winter months, the very season when the salmon 
canneries are shut down. 

The Juneau Packing Company, of Juneau, put up a large smoke- 
house during 1904, and is now engaged in the smoking of halibut, 
herring, and salmon. The greater part of its prepared product is 
shipped to Puget Sound ports. 



20 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

THE HERRING FISHERY. 
HISTORY. 

As early as 1878 persons in Wrangell engaged in the business of 
catching herring, from which they extracted the oil, in addition to salt- 
ing and drying the fish. In 1880 the Western Fur and Trading Com- 
pany, at their St. Paul (Kadiak Island) fishery, put up 500 boxes (30 
pounds each) of smoked herring and 25 one-quarter barrels and 100 
kits of salted herring. 

The fertilizer plant at Killisnoo, on the island of Kenasnow, close 
to the western shore of Admiralty Island, owned and operated by the 
Alaska Oil and Guano Company, is the largest and oldest concern 
engaged in the herring fisheries. In 1882 the Northwest Trading 
Company, the predecessor of the present company, established at 
Kallisnoo a small plant for extracting oil. As it proved successful it 
was gradually enlarged, and in 1884 the plant for the manufacture of 
guano was installed. The works at present are quite extensive, with 
commodious storehouses and a fine wharf. The common barrels used 
are made on the premises by machinery. As the fish while breeding 
are very poor and furnish no oil, the factory does not begin to operate 
until June, by which time the fish are feeding again and have com- 
menced to fatten. In June it is estimated that one barrel of fish will 
furnish about half a gallon of oil; from this time the quantity obtained 
increases, until in the early part of September one barrel of fish pro- 
duces about 3^ gallons of oil. It then begins to decrease until in 
December a barrel of fish will produce about 2 gallons of oil. The 
factory is generally operated from June to December. The season is 
frequently shorter, however; in 1905 it ran from June to October. 
Three steamers are employed and the fish are taken by means of 
purse seines. A few herring are salted each season, also. 

During the season of 1905 the Alaska Fish and Development Com- 
pany, of Pleasant Bay, on Glass Peninsula, installed a fertilizer plant 
aboard a large hulk anchored in the bay, but they were unable to get 
it in readiness to operate before the season closed. They put up a 
considerable quantity of salted herring, however. In 1904 this com- 
pany operated a trap net for herring in the bay, but it was not set in 
1905. 

From 1899 on, various companies and individuals put up salted 
herring at points along the coast south of the Aleutian chain. The 
fishing in Norton Sound and on the Yukon River is done by natives 
with seines, and the fish caught are either consumed locally or ex- 
changed with the interior tribes for other articles. 

On June 15, 1904, the sardine cannery of the Juneau Packing Com- 
pany was opened at Juneau, and during the balance of the year put 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 21 

up 3,173 cases of one-quarter oil and three-quarters mustard sardines, 
valued at $12,059. These were prepared from young herring. None 
were packed in 1905, owing to inability to compete with the excess- 
ively low prices quoted for eastern sardines. As the prices of the 
latter have gone up to a normal figure again, it is probable that it 
will now be profitable to operate the cannery. The company also 
put up smoked and salted herring in addition to other fishes. 

There is room for a very great development of the herring industry. 
For many years salmon absorbed all the attention and capital, but 
since the slump in profits in the latter busi:iess during the last four 
years more attention has been directed to herring. 

FISHING GROUNDS. 

Herring are found in abundance at certain seasons of the year 
at many places on the Alaskan coast south of Bering Straits. They 
are rather erratic in their movements, however, being in one place 
especially abundant one year and totally absent the next, possibly 
returning again after several seasons in greater numbers than before. 
In southeast Alaska the herring arrive in April for the purpose of 
breeding, and deposit their eggs in countless numbers in the sea grass 
and rockweed near shore and on boughs of trees along the beaches 
near low-water mark. For many years the inlet at Kootznahoo, on 
Chatham Strait, was the favorite resort for herring, but they are 
much less abundant now, owing, it is claimed, to the constant fishing 
for them with purse seines, which breaks up the schools and drives 
them away. The northern shore of Kuiu Island and Gastineau Chan- 
nel are also favorite spots, although the fish have been rather scarce 
in the latter place the last two seasons. They are quite abundant in 
Yakutat Bay, while Seldovia or Herring Bay, just inside the mouth 
of Cook Inlet, is a famous resort for them, immense schools making 
their appearance here each spring and autumn. About the middle 
of August large schools usually appear in the vicinity of Kadiak 
Island, and Captains Harbor, Unalaska Island, is frequented at cer- 
tain seasons by large schools of exceedingly fat herring. Herring 
usually begin to arrive in the Yukon River from the 5th to the 20th 
of June. The run in Norton Sound is of very short duration, the 
fishing lasting only a fortnight, but the schools are said to be enor- 
mously large. 

STATISTICS. 

The table on page 22 shows the condition of the herring fishery from 
1878, the first year for which reliable data could be secured. This 
table is not complete by an)'' means, as salteries frequently spring up 
and are gone in a season, leaving no trace behind as to what they did. 



22 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OP ALASKA IN 1905. 

Extent of the Herring Fisheries of Alaska, 1878 to 1905. 





Fish utilized. 


Products prepared. 


Year. 


Pickled. 


Smoked. 




Half barrels. 


Barrels. 


1878 


Pounds. 

37,500 
25,000 
27,900 


Number. 


Value. 


Number. 
150 
100 
19 


Value. 

S900 

650 

133 


Pounds. 


Value. 


1879 










1880 






15,000 


$750 


1881 








1882 


3, 040, 000 
8,400,000 
13, 200, 000 
17,000,000 
22, 000, 000 
22, 200, 000 
6,000,000 
10, 492, 000 ■ 
10,485,000 
17,644,400 
18, 716, 000 
14, 450, 000 
15, 306, 000 
6,510,000 
5,550,000 
7, 120, 000 
9,048,000 
8, 110, 000 
13, 006, 250 
14,600,000 
9,546,800 
13, 689, 000 
15,963,500 
15, 109, 113 














1883 














1884 














1885 














1886 














1887 














1888 














1889 












1890 




... .1 - 








1891 


1,000 


?3, 750 










1892 











1893 




::;;:;:::;:;;::: 




1 


1894 


1,000 
500 
250 
950 
1,300 
1,650 
185 
400 


3,500 






1895 


1,750 
875 
2,850 
3,900 
4,950 
555 
1,200 




1 


1896 




t 


1897 .. .. ■ 






1898 




! 


1899 


3,200 
3,885 
8,000 
5,490 
2,225 
2,250 
9,216 


16,000 
19,425 
40,000 
27, 450 
11,125 
11,250 
46,200 




1900 


j 


1901 




1902 






1903 


710 
150 
375 


2,130 

450 

1,115 






1904 


450 
24,435 


50 


1905 


1,534 






Total 


297,276,463 


8,470 


27,025 


34,535 


173,133 i 39.885 


2,334 













Products prepared— Continued. 


Total 
value. 


Year. 


Sardines 
(canned) . 


Oil. 


Guano. 


1878 


Cases. Value. 


Gallons. 


Value. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


$900 


1879 


1 




1 


650 


1880 






1 


883 


1881 






1 




1882 1 1 


30,000 
81,000 
192,000 
300, 000 
368, 000 
335,000 
100,000 
157, 900 
156, 750 
242, 050 
318,900 
223, 450 
234,350 
101,650 
90,650 
125,000 
165,500 
128,000 
172,000 
200,000 
117, 250 
146, 250 
152, 500 
143, 220 


$7, 500 
20, 500 
48, 000 
75,000 
92,000 
83, 750 
25,000 
39, 475 
39, 188 
60,513 
79, 725 
55,863 
58,. 588 
22, 363 
20,850 
31,250 
33,375 
25,600 
34,000 
50,000 
36, 175 
39,473 
41,. 375 
35,805 




7,500 
20,500 


1883 






1884 .1 


1,266,666 

(a) 

(°) 
(a) 
(a) 


$16,800 

(a) 
(a) 
(a) 
(«) 


64,800 


1885 


75,000 


1886 . . . . 




92,000 


1887 ' 




83, 750 


1888 




25,000 


1889 ! 




39, 475 


1890 ' 








39,188 


1891 ' 




1,666,666 

1,400,000 
1,800,000 
1,600,000 
1,000,000 
1,100,000 
1,560,000 
1, 772, 000 
1,428,000 
2,388,000 
2,500,000 
1,624,000 
2,688,000 
3,041,800 
2,618,000 


22,275 
15,400 
22,500 
16,000 
10,000 
11,000 
17, 600 
14, 962 
12, 852 
26, 400 
33, 750 
25,360 
33,600 
38,125 
32,725 


86,538 


1892 




95,125 


1893 




78, 363 


1894 






78,088 


1895 






34, 113 


1896 






32,725 


1897 






51,700 


1898 






52,237 


1899 






59, 402 


1900 






80, 380 


1901 






124, 950 


1902 






88,985 


1903 







86,328 


1904 


3,i73 


$12,059 


103, 309 


1905 


117,379 











Total 


3,173 


12,059 


4.281,420 


1,055,368 


29,319,800 


349,349 


1,619,268 







oNo record. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



23 



THE SALMON INDUSTRY.a 



CANNERIES. 



The first two canneries in Alaska were built in the spring of 1878 — 
one at the Redoubt, Old Sitka, and the other at Klawak, both in South- 
east Alaska. The latter was built by the North Pacific Trading and 
Packing Company, which still operates it. In Central Alaska the first 
cannery was built in 1882 at Karluk. The first in Western Alaska 
(Bristol Bay region) was constructed on the Nushagak River in 1884. 
By 1889 there were 37 canneries in operation, with a total output of 
719,196 cases, a flood of canned salmon which was too much for the 
markets, so that by 1892 the number of canneries had fallen to 15, 
with an output of 474,717 cases. From this time on there was a 
gradual increase until 1902, when there were 64 establishments in 
operation, packing 2,545,298 cases; but the low prices prevailing dur- 
ing the last few years, owing to excessive competition, again reduced 
the number very materially, and in 1905 there were but 47 canneries, 
which put up 1,894,516 cases. The table below shows by sections 
and years the number of canneries operated and the pack. It has 
been found impossible to give the value of the pack, owing to the wide 
fluctuations in price and the fact that establishments frequently held 
their pack for several seasons before disposing of it. 

Pack of Canned Salmon in Alaska, 1878 to 1905. 





Southeast Alaska. 


Central Alaska. 


Western Alaska. 


Total. 


Year. 


Can- 
neries. 


Pack. 


Can- 
neries. 


Pack. 


Can- 
neries. 


Pack. 


Can- 
neries. 


Pack. 


1878 


2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

4 

4 

3 

4 

5 

6 

12 

12 

11 

7 

8 

7 

7 

9 

9 

9 

9 

16 

21 

26 

21 

12 

13 


Cases. 

8,159 

12, 530 

6,539 

8,977 

11,501 

20, 040 

22, 189 

16, 728 

18, 660 

31, 462 

81, 128 

141, 760 

142, 901 
156, 615 
115, 722 
136, 053 
142, .544 
148, 476 
262, 381 
271,867 
251, 385 
310, 219 
456, 639 
742, 914 
915, 150 
645, 232 
464, 545 
433, 607 




Cases. 


Cases. 


2 

2 

1 

1 

3 

6 

7 

6 

9 

10 

16 

37 

35 

30 

15 

22 

21 

23 

29 

29 

30 

32 

42 

55 

64 

60 

55 

47 


Cases. 
8,159 


1879 








12, 530 


1880 








6,539 


1881 






8,977 


1882 


2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

6 

21 

19 

14 

6 

11 

10 

10 

12 

13 

14 

14 

14 

13 

12 

12 

11 

9 


10,244 
28, 297 
42,297 
52, 687 
74,583 
102, 515 
241, 101 
461,451 
421, 300 
511,367 
295, 496 
399, 815 
435, 052 
327, 919 
485,990 
382, 899 
395, 009 
356. 095 
492, 223 
562, 142 
583,690 
417, 175 
499, 485 
371, 755 




21, 745 


1883 




48, 337 


1884 


1 

1 

3 

3 

4 

4 

4 

5 

2 

3 

4 

6 

8 

7 

7 

9 

12 

21 

26 

27 

32 

25 


ft 400 

14,000 

48, 822 

72,700 

89,886 

115, 985 

118, 390 

133, 418 

63,499 

107, 786 

108,844 

150, 135 

218, 336 

254, 312 

318, 703 

411,8.32 

599, 277 

719, 213 

1,046,458 

1, 186, 730 

989, 716 

1,089,154 


64,886 


1885 


83,415 


1886 


142, 065 


1887 


206, 677 


1888 


412, 115 


1889 


719, 196 


1890 


682, 591 


1891 


801,400 


1892 


474, 717 


1893 


643,654 


1894 


686, 440 


1895 


626, 530 


1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 


966, 707 
909, 078 
965,097 
1,078,146 
1,548,139 
2,024,269 
2, 545, 298 
2,249,137 
1,953,746 
1, 894, 516 


Total 




5,975,923 




7,950,587 




7, 857, 596 




21,784,106 



a No effort is made to give a detailed history of the fishery or of the methods followed, as these 
have been treated of, quite at lenf^th. in the publications of the I'.ureau and in the yearly reports of 
the agents appointed by the government to see that the salmon law is enforced. 

6 Experimental pack. 



24 



COMMEBCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



SALTERIES. 



The oldest Alaska salmon saltery now in existence is that established 
by Baronovich, a Greek or Slav, who had married' the daughter of 
Skowl, one of the old-time chiefs of the Kasaans, and received from 
him the fishery on Karta Bay now known as Baronovich's Fishery. 
The saltery is operated only occasionally now. 

The table below shows the pack of salted salmon since 1868. The 
salt salmon trade was so overshadowed by its giant brother, the 
canned trade, that it is frequently lost sight of or swallowed up in the 
latter. As a result it has been an exceedingly difficult matter to 
secure accurate data, and it is probable that a considerable part of 
the trade, especially in the earlier years, has been overlooked. The 
preparing of dry-salted dog salmon for market was first attempted in 
1899. In 1900 a number of persons rushed into the business and over- 
stocked the market, with the result that the industry became unprof- 
itable and nothing was attempted for two seasons, when the demands 
of the Japanese trade for a cheap dry-salted fish caused a revival of 
the business. From 225 to 250 dog salmon are required to make a 
prepared ton of dry salted. These are packed in boxes holding about 
560 pounds net. Fifteen pounds of salt are required to a box of fish, 
while the box itself weighs 95 pounds. 

Pack of Salted Salmon in Alaska, 1868 to 1905. 



Year. 


Salmon. 


Salmon bellies. 


Dry-salted salmon. 


Barrels. 


Value. 


Barrels. 


Value. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


1868 


2,000 
1,700 
1,800 

700 
1,000 

900 
1,400 
1,200 
1,800 


$16, 000 
13,600 
14,400 
6, .300 
9,000 
7,200 
11,200 
9,600 
14.400 




1 




1869 




j 




1870 




1 




1871 




1 




1872.. 


■ 








1873 










1874 










1875 










1876 










1877 


1,950 15,700 
2, 100 16. 800 
.3,500 1 28,000 
3, 700 29. 600 










1878 










1879 










1880 


300 


$3,300 






1881 


1,760 
5,890 
7, 251 
6,106 
3,230 
4,861 
3,978 
9,500 
6,457 
18,039 
8,913 


15, 840 
53,010 
65, 259 
54, 954 
29,070 
43, 749 
35,802 
85,500 
58,013 
162, 351 
71 . .304 






1882 










1883 










1884 










1885 










1886 










1887 










1888 










1889 










1890 










1891 











1892 


17,374 . 140,057 
24,005 1 120,083 
32,011 176.060 


53 


815 






1893 






1894 










1895 


14,234 
9,314 
15. 848 
22, 670 
22, 382 
31,8-52 


85,404 
65, 198 
110,936 
181,360 
167, 865 










1896 


i.56 

2,846 
580 
235 

2,353 
652 
328 

3, 667 
208 

1,360 


1,200 

28, 460 
5,800 
2.350 

23, 5.30 
3,816 
2, 952 

32,973 
1,950 

11,355 






1897 






1898 






1899 






1900 


.■jll, 400 


$10, 228 


1901 


24,477 ! 171,3.39 
30,-384 - 212,688 
27,921 i 223,368 
13,674 i 89.200 
19,071 1 143.811 




1902 






1903 


300,000 

966, 812 

7,280,234 


5,500 

16, 180 
115,643 


1904 

1905 


Total 


404,952 .•? 10S Q.iJ^ 


12, 732 


118.501 


9,058,446 


147,551 











COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 25 

FREEZING SALMON. 

The preparing of frozen salmon began in 1902. The San Juan Fish- 
ing and Packing Company, soon to be succeeded by the Pacific Cold 
Storage Company, put up a cannery and cold-storage plant at Taku 
Harbor, Southeast Alaska, in 1901, though it did not operate the cold- 
storage portion until 1902. The quantity prepared that year was not 
reported by the company. It appears that in 1903 the pack was 
valued at $50,000 and in 1904, 57,427 pounds were frozen. In 1905 
the pack was as follows: King salmon, 21,643 pounds, valued at 
$866; silver salmon, 22,334 pounds, $893; pink salmon, 16,348 pounds, 
$654, and steelhead trout, 12,306 pounds, $738. Nearly all of this 
frozen fish is sliipped to Europe. 

The season of 1905 witnessed the inception of a new branch of the 
salmon fishery. About the middle of January king salmon were 
observed in the vicinity of Ketchikan, but it was not until January 23 
that the first fish were brought to this place for sale. News of the 
heavy run of fish having spread very rapidly, there were soon a large 
number of wliites and Indians out in canoes catching them. The fish 
were feeding on the schools of young herring, and as they were close to 
the reefs nets could not be employed, and trolling lines were brought 
into use. At first herring bait was employed, but it was soon dis- 
covered that a nickel trolling spoon would answer the purpose just as 
well. The vicinity of Point Comano and Point Stewart seemed to be 
favorite spots for the fish, but they were to be found almost every- 
where within a radius of 50 miles from Ketchikan. Several firms in 
Ketchikan early saw the financial possibilities of the business and soon 
had out steamers and launches to collect the fish from the fishing boats 
and bring them to Ketchikan to be packed in ice and sliipped to Puget 
Sound ports. The fish averaged 25 pounds in weight. One weighed 
77 pounds and several 75 pounds each. About 25 per cent of the catch 
consisted of white-meat fish and 75 per cent of red-meat fish. For 
the former the fishermen were paid 25 cents each and for the latter 
50 cents each. During the run, which lasted until May 18, 271,644 
pounds, valued at $15,600, were shipped. A considerable quantity 
was cured by the Indians for their own use also. 

HATCHERIES. 

A few of the more far-sighted cannerymen early saw the necessity 
of repairing, by artificial means, the enormous drain upon the supply 
of salmon caused by the large number of canneries in operation. 
In 1891 the several canneries in operation at Karluk combined 
forces and built a hatchery on the lagoon at that place. There were 
2,500,000 eggs taken, but owing to bad water, crude appliances, and 
want of experience, only about 500,000 fish were hatched. As the can- 
nerymen could not agree in regard to fishing operations in 1892, the 



26 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

hatchery scheme also fell through and the plant was closed up. In that 
year Mr. John C. Callbreath, manager of the Point Ellis cannery, on 
Kuiu Island, operated a small hatchery on the left bank of Kutlakoo 
stream. It was a very primitive affair, the work all being conducted 
without shelter. About 1,000,000 eggs were fertilized and placed in 
the baskets, but after they commenced hatching an exceptionally high 
September tide destroyed the plant and it was never rebuilt. During 
the spring of the same year the Point Ellis cannery burned, and Mr. 
Callbreath, after seeing to the operation of the hatchery, returned to 
Wrangell to engage in business. Here his attention was attracted 
again to hatchery work and he made arrangements with the Indians 
for the right to Jadjeska stream, which empties into McHenry Inlet on 
Etolin Island, and in the fall of 1892 built a small hatchery about 200 
yards from the mouth of the stream. The stream is about one-half 
mile in length and is the outlet of a small lake 42 feet above tide water. 
Finding the location unsuitable, Mr. Callbreath removed the hatchery 
in 1893 to the northern side of the lake, about three-eighths of a mile 
from the head of the outlet, where it at present stands. This hatchery 
is a private enterprise, being unconnected with any cannery or fishery, 
and is supported wholly by its public spirited and enterprising owner. 

In 1896 the Baranof Packing Company, which operated a cannery 
on Redfish Bay, on the western coast of Baranof Island, built a small 
hatchery on the lake at the head of Redfish Stream. When 200,000 
eggs were in the water very cold weather set in and not only froze the 
flume solid, but also froze the whole cataract. As the hatchery was 
thus left without water, the eggs were put into the lake and left to 
their fate and the hatchery closed down permanently. 

In May, 1896, the Alaska Packers' Association broke ground for a 
hatchery at the eastern end of the Karluk lagoon, near the outlet of 
Karluk River, and but a short distance from where the hatchery was 
located in 1891. This was the first large hatchery built in Alaska and 
at the start had a capacity of several million eggs, which was largely 
increased from season to season for some years until iti 1905 it had 
a capacity of about 40,000,000. 

In 1897 the North Pacific Trading and Packing Company, at Kla- 
wak. Prince of Wales Island, established a hatchery near the head of 
Klawak stream, close to Klawak Lake. In 1898 the establishment 
was moved to the mouth of Threemile stream, a lake feeder on the 
northern side. 

The Pacific Steam Whaling Company in 1898 erected a small hatch- 
ery on Hetta stream on the west side of Prince of Wales Island, which 
was operated until the close of the hatching season of 1903-4, when 
the Pacific Packing and Navigation Company, successor to the original 
owner, went into the hands of a receiver. This company was the 
owner of two other small hatcheries also, both built in 1901, one on 
the stream entering Mink arm of Quadra Bay, on the mainland, and 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



27 



one on a stream entering Freshwater Lake Bay, Chatham Strait. 
These hkewise closed when the company failed. 

In 1901 the Alaska Packers' Association erected a hatchery on 
Heckman Lake, the third of a series of lakes on Naha Stream, and 
about 8 miles from Loring, where the association has a cannery. The 
association has expended a great deal of money on this hatchery and 
has made it the largest and most expensive in the world. At present 
it has a capacity of 110,000,000 eggs, but it has never been possible 
to secure enough to fill it. 

The Union Packing Company, at Kell Bay, on Kuiu Island, and 
Mr. F. C. Barnes, at Lake Bay, on Prince oif Wales Island, in 1902 
built and operated small hatcheries, but with very indifferent suc- 
cess, and both abandoned the attempt after one season's work. 

In 1905 the United States Bureau of Fisheries took up the work 
of hatcliing in Alaska, and began the erection of a hatchery on 
McDonald Lake, which empties through a short stream into Yes Bay, 
on Cleveland Peninsula. As the hatchery proper was not far enough 
complete to operate when the time for stripping came, in September, 
the eggs secured were placed in the flume built to bring the water to 
the hatchery. 

Five hatcheries were in operation in 1905-6, and the value of these, 
together with the Hetta h'atchery, which is in condition to operate 
at any time, is about S3 15,000. 

The table below shows the hatcheries which operated successfully 
from 1892 or at least one season, and gives the number of eggs secured 
and the number of fry liberated each season. This represents almost 
wholly redfish, but a few million cohoes having been hatched. The 
periods represented are fiscal years, because the spawning season, 
the winter months, covers parts of two calendar years. 

Output of the Salmon Hatcheries of 'Alaska, 1893 to 1906. 



Year ended 
June 30— 


Callbreath's hatchery. 


Karluk hatchery. 


Klawak hatchery. 


Eggs taken. 


Fry 
liberated 


Eggs taken. 


Fry 
liberated. 


Eggs taken. 


Fry 
liberated. 


1893 


900,000 
3,000,000 
6,300,000 
6,200,000 
5,400,000 
3,400,000 
3,000,000 
3,400,000 
C) 

6,000,000 
6,000,000 
6,000,000 
6,050,000 
7,700,000 


600,000 
2,204,000 
5,291,000 
5,475,000 
4,390,000 
2,526,000 
2,050,000 
2,335,000 




1 




1894 




( 




1895 




j 


1896 






1897 


3,236,000 
8,454,000 
4,491,000 
10,496,900 
19,334,000 
32,800,000 
23,400,000 
28,113,000 
45,500,000 
36,933,000 


2,556,440 
6,340 000 




1898 


9 a-rx nnn 


800,000 
3,000,000 


1899 


3 369 000 ' s ann nnn 


1900 


7,872,000 
15,566,800 
28,700,000 
17,555,000 
22,000 000 
33,670,000 
32,501,040 


3,600,000 

3,500,000 
3,500,000 
3,000.000 
2,800,000 
2,800,000 


1901 




1902 


5,500,000 
5,000,000 
5,000,000 
5,250,000 
6,500,000 


2,800,000 
1,. 500, 000 


1903 


1904 


1905 ... 


2,000,000 
2,000,000 


1906 d 


Total.. 


« 63,350,000 


52,121,000 


212,757,900 


170,130,280 


24,823,000 


14,800,000 



o A hard freeze killed most of the eggs. 
6 None stripped, 
c Eggs all frozen. 

d As the take of eggs for 1905-6 had not been hatched out when this report was prepared, the number 
of fiy had to be estimated. 
« The number of egga taken in each season at this hatchery has been estimated. 



28 



COMMEKCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



Output of the Salmon Hatcheries of Alaska, 1893 to 1906 — Continued. 



Year ended 


Hetta hatchery. 


Quadra Bay 
hatchery. 


Freshwater Bay 
hatchery. 


Fortmann 
hatchery. 


June 30— 


Eggs 
taken. 


Fry 
liberated. 


Eggs 
taken. 


Fry 
liberated. 


Eggs Fry 
taken. 1 liberated. 


Eggs 
taken. 


. Fry 
liberated. 


1893 
















1894 . . J 














1895 ' . . . 














1896 








■ ■ 




1897 














1898 








1 






1899 1 2,800,000 


2,600,000 
1,500,000 
500,000 
1,700,000 
4,000,000 
3,750,000 

(0 

(«) 






I 






1900 ' 2.000.000 














1901 


1,800,000 














1902 


2,500,000 
4,800,000 
5,127,500 

(0 


4,500,000 

5,500,000 

600,000 

(«) 
(0 


3,500,000 
4,000,000 
c 400,000 

(«) 

{') 


1,500,000 

(d) 

(0 


1,000,000 

i") 
(d) 

(0 


11,460,000 
40,050,000 
22^203,000 
65,010,000 
71,139,000 


10,300,000 


1903 


29,005,000 


1904 


13,780,000 


1905 


63,181,000 


1906 / 


65,313,710 


Total . . 


19,027,500 


14,050,000 


10,600,000 


7,900,000 


1,. 500, 000 


1,000,000 


209,862,000 


181,579,710 



Year ended 
June 30— 


Kell Bay hatchery. 


McDonald hatchery. 


Total. 


Eggs taken. 


Fry 
liberated. 


Eggs taken. 


Fry planted. 


Eggs taken. 


Fry 
liberated. 


1893 .... 










900,000 

3,000,000 

6,300,000 

6,200,000 

8,636,000 

13,877,000 

13,891,000 

19,496,900 

21,134,000 

62,260,000 

85,7.50,000 

65,043,500 

119,360-, 000 

125,572,000 


600,000 


1894 








2,204,000 


1895 






1 


5,291,000 


1896 










5,475,000 


1897 










6,946,440 


1898 








. 


9,666,000 


1899 1 




i 


11,019,000 


1900 










12,707,000 


1901 . ... 










16,066,800 


1902 










53,500,000 


1903 


2,500,000 

(«) 


2,000,000 

(0 






63,060,000 


1904 






46,630,000 


1905 






104,101,000 


1906/ 


7,000,000 


5,000,000 


111,314,750 


Total.. 


2,500,000 


2,000,000 


7,000,000 


5,000,000 


551,420,400 


448,580,990 



a Many eggs frozen. 
b No run of fish. 

c Hatchery was not used, the eggs being hatched out in the lake, 
d No report. 
e Not operated. 

/As the take of eggs for 1905-6 had not been hatched when this report was prepared, the number 
of fry had to be estimated. 

FERTILIZER PLANTS. 

As noted elsewhere, the Alaska Oil and Guano Company has oper- 
ated a herring fertilizer plant at Killisnoo for some years. During 
1905 the Alaska Fish and Development Company, at Pleasant Bay, 
built a small fertilizer plant in an old hulk, which can be moved from 
place to place as desired. The company expects, when the plant is 
working, to utilize the salmon and herring offal from its saltery. 

The Pacific Coast and Norway Packing Company also put in a small 
fertilizer plant in connection with its salmon cannery at Tonka in 
1905. The plant cost about $3,500 and will have a capacity of 12 
tons daily. The intention is to use the waste product of the can- 
nery, and as the noxious gases which make a fertilizer plant so offen- 
sive are piped off into the furnace and there consumed it has been 
possible to build the plant immediately alongside the cannery build- 
ing. The manager of the cannery estimates that when reduced a ton 
of salmon offal will make from 400 to 500 pounds of fertilizer and 
150 pounds (about 20 gallons) of oil. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905, 29 

In 1904 the North Pacific Fish and Oil Company estabhshed a fer- 
tihzer plant at Grace Harbor, on Dall Island. It was the intention 
of the company to utilize the offal from a nearby salmon saltery 
and also such little used species as mud sharks, dogfish, etc. Unfor- 
tunately the plant proved unworkable and has not yet been remod- 
eled to suit Alaskan conditions. 

As the offal from the salmon canneries alone amounts to over 
35,000,000 pounds in a season, all of which is at present thrown over- 
board and allowed to pollute the waters, it is easily to be seen that if 
small fertilizer plants could be installed at each cannery to treat this 
offal, as is done at the sardine canneries in Maine, this enormous 
annual wastage would be obviated and the waters adjacent to the 
canneries rendered more agreeable, not only to the denizens of the 
water but also to the chance visitor. 

Oil. — For many years the Indians have engaged in catching the 
dogfish (Squalus sucMii Girard) and extracting from it an oil which 
they sell to the traders. Loring has always been a favorite resort for 
these fishermen, as the dogfish are especially abundant in that vicinity. 
It is estimated that as much as 10,000 gallons of this oil were obtained 
in 1892. The only firm of white men engaged in this business at pres- 
ent is the Ketchikan Ka-ko Oil Company, which has a small plant at 
Loring. The livers alone are utilized, the rest of the fish being thrown 
away. The oil, because of its heavy body and freedom from grit, is a 
most desirable lubricant and finds a ready sale in logging camps as 
''skid grease." In 1904 the company refined part of its product and 
is now endeavoring to introduce it as a medicinal oil, for which they 
claim it is well suited. 

AQUATIC FURS. 

Of the few industries followed in Alaska that of hunting the fur- 
bearing animals is one of the most important. Owing to the immense 
extent of territory still unoccupied except by a few small tribes of 
Indians or Eskimos, it is probable that the industry, so far as it relates 
to aquatic animals in the interior waters, will thrive for some years to 
come. Those fur-bearing animals, such as the seal and sea otter, 
found along the shores of the mainland and adjacent islands and the 
open sea, where they can easily be hunted, are rapidly becoming 
extinct. This fact has alread}^ had a very important bearing on the 
welfare of the coast tribes, as they have been dependent at many 
places upon their catch of these animals for the means wherewith to 
secure the verj^ necessaries of life. 

The fur traders have their stations located at convenient points, 
and from these in the spring and summer send out vessels to visit 
branch stations or certain rendezvous, where they secure from the 
natives their catch of the past year and pay for the same in goods. 
In the interior the traders usually fit out trusty natives with small 



30 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

stocks of goods to travel among those more distant tribes which can 
not reach the stations. The prices paid are regulated by the stand- 
ard price of red fox or marten, called 1 skin, which in 1890 was about 
$1.25. In 1890 a prime beaver was put in as 2 skins; black bear, 4 
skins; lynx, 1 skin; land otter, 2 or 3 skins. Five yards of drilling or 1 
pound of tea or 1 pound of powder, or half a pound of powder with 1 
box of caps and 1 pound of shot, are given for 1 skin; 50 pounds of 
flour for 4 skins; 5 pounds of sugar for 1 skin. In the mining districts 
the prices are much higher, to conform to those paid by the miners. 

Beaver. — This is the most valuable of the fur-bearing aquatic ani- 
mals of the interior waters of Alaska, and since the district was 
acquired by the United States has been hunted with such vigor 
that its numbers are very much diminished and diminishing. The 
range of this animal covers all of the mainland of Alaska, excepting 
only the belt of barren-coast country bordering the Arctic Ocean 
from Point Hope north and east to the Canadian line. The numer- 
ous lakes and ponds and the clear streams of the interior, especially 
those bordered by alders and willows, are the beaver's favorite resorts. 
It generally avoids the large rivers, owing to the great change in level 
likely to occur at different seasons. The natives catch beavers in 
steel traps set at a frequented spot or shoot them from a concealed 
place near their house or dam. The natives of eastern Siberia prize 
the fur of the beaver very highly for trimming their fur clothing, and 
during the summer months many of the skins are taken across Bering 
Straits by the Eskimos and traded to the Siberian natives for the skins 
of the tame reindeer. Castoreum, an oily odorous compound secreted 
by the preputial glands of the animal, also the dried preputial follicles 
and their contents, are sometimes prepared and find a sale in China, 
where they occupy a place in the pharmacopoeia. In 1905 but 5 
pounds, valued at about $16, were prepared. From 1745 to 1867, the 
period covered by the Russian occupation of Alaska, 413,356 beaver 
skins were secured by her traders. 

Muskrat. — Wherever bogs and ponds or running water occur on the 
mainland, except along the extreme northern coast line, this animal 
will be found ; it is also found upon Nunevak and St. Michaels islands. 
It is trapped in small steel traps or in wicker fish traps. The greater 
part of the skins are bought by the traders for the purpose of bartering 
them off in other localities for more valuable furs, hence but few of 
them reach the outside world. They are used by the natives for 
making fur clothing and blankets or robes. 

Land otter. — -This species is one of the most Widely distributed in the 
district, being found on the whole coast of Alaska from the southern 
boundary to the northern shore of Norton Sound. It also occurs on 
all the islands inside of these limits as far as Unimak in the west and 
Nunivak in the north. Within the Arctic Circle it is confined to the 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



31 



upper courses of the rivers emptying into the Arctic Ocean. It is 
quite generally distributed over the interior of the Territory and is also 
found on the Kadiak Archipelago. The land otters found upon Sit- 
kalidak, one of the Kadiak group, are famous for their very dark fur. 
A steel trap is generally used in capturing the animal. According to 
Russian records 244,538 of these skins were bought by the traders 
from 1745 to 1867, the date of American annexation. Since then the 
supply has remained fairly constant. 

Sea otter. — When Bering and his party first explored the Aleutian 
Islands in 1760-1765 they found the sea otters exceedingly numerous 
all along the Aleutian chain. They are now almost unknown around 
a greater part of it, their principal resort at present being among the 
reefs and outlying islets surrounding Sannak Island, near the eastern 
end and on the Pacific side of the chain. The Aleutian hunters are 
brought to this point in vessels belonging to the trading companies 
and to private individuals, and landed with their bidarkas or skin 
canoes and hunting equipment. Here they remain for months, scour- 
ing the sea in all directions or lying upon rocky points and islets await- 
ing the approach of an otter within long rifle shot. The fur of this 
animal is the most valuable in the world. Even as far back as 1 880 
from $80 to $100 in cash were paid by the traders to the Aleuts for 
particularly fine skins. At the London sales in 1888 the average 
price received for these skins was £21 10s.; in 1889, £33; and in 1891, 
£57. A single skin, however, has sold for as high as $1,400, and in 
1905 a trader at Nome valued one skin which he had secured at $2,000. 
During the Russian occupation (from 1745 to 1867) 260,790 sea otter 
skins are reported as having been shipped from Alaska. 

The following table shows the number and value of the aquatic furs, 
other than seal, obtained in Alaska and shipped from the district 
from 1868 to 1905, both inclusive: 





Aquatic Furs Obtained in Alaska, 


1868 TO 1905.« 








Beaver. 


Muskrat. 


otter, land. 


Otter, sea. 


Total. 




Num- 
ber. 


Value. 


Num- 
ber. 


Value. 


Num- 
Dei. 


Value. 


Num- 
ber. 


Value. 


Num- 
ber, 


Value. 


1868-1870 

1871-1880 

1881-1890 

1891-1900 

1901-1904 

1905 


17,041 
41,217 
60,940 
21,810 
7,740 
1,935 


?«5,205 
20ti,0S5 
304, 700 
109, 050 
38,700 
8,271 


17,908 
50,322 
90,000 
30,000 
50, 306 
12,590^ 


S895 
2,516 
4,, 500 
1,500 
2,520 
1,192 


6,367 
27. 730 
27, 7.30 
21,000 
8,556 
1,889 


$31,835 
1,38. b50 
138,6.50 
105. 000 
68,448 
14, 4.58 


12,208 

40, 283 

47,842 

6,467 

260 

61 


$1,220,800 

4,028,300 

4,784,200 

646, 700 

39,000 

13.807 


53,524 
159, 552 
226,512 
79. 277 
66,952 
16, 484 


$1,. 338, 735 

4,375,551 

5, 232, 050 

862, 250 

148,668 

37 788 






Total.. 


150,683 


752,011 


251,22.5 


%i23 


93,272 


497,041 


107,121 


10,732,867 


602,301 


11,995,042 



a The values given, except in 1905, are the prices realized in London. 

Fur seal. — It would be superfluous to go into any detail in regard 
to the general subject of the fur seal, as the existing literature devoted 
to this animal would constitute a large library in itself. The only 
breeding grounds are on the islands of St. Paul and St. George in Ber- 
ing Sea. From about 1745 until the district of Alaska was annexed 



32 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



to the United States in 1867 the Russians took from these islands 
3,354,478 skins. In 1870 the Alaska Commercial Cornpa*iy secured 
from the Government the exclusive right to kill fur seals on the islands, 
and retained this right until 1890, when it was succeeded by the North 
American Commercial Company, which is still in possession. The 
decrease in the number of seals since 1867 has been enormous. It is 
estimated that in 1867 the herd numbered about 5,000,000, while in 
1905 it was only about 200,000. A considerable part of this decrease 
is attributed to the killiiig of female seals by the pelagic sealing ves- 
sels. On their way to the breeding grounds the^eals follow the coast 
line from Santa Barbara Channel northward and throughout this jour- 
ney they are eagerly sought by the pelagic sealers. A little measure 
of relief to the harassed herd was extended by the decision of the Ber- 
ing Sea Arbitration Tribunal in 1893, but the slaughter was soon 
resumed. The table below shows the catch of fur seals from 1867 to 
date both on the islands and from pelagic and other sources, presum- 
ably within Alaskan waters. The values given are those received in 
London at the great auction sales held there several times each year. 

Fuk-Seal Skins Obtained from the Seal Islands and from Pelagic and Other 
Sources, All in Waters of Alaska, 1868 to 1905. 



Year. 


From seal islands. 


From pelagic and 
other sources. 


Total. 




Number. 


Value. 


Number. 


Value. 


Number. 


Value. 


1868 


140,000 

85,901 

23, 773 

102,960 

108,819 

109, 117 

110,585 

106,460 

94,657 

84,310 

109, 323 

110,511 

105, 718 

105,063 

99, 812 

79,509 

105,434 

105, 024 

104,521 

105, 760 

103,304 

102,617 

28,859 

14,406 

7,509 

7,390 

15,033 

14,846 

30, 654 

19,200 

18, 047 

16,812 

22,470 

23,066 

22, 182 

19,292 

12,960 

12, 723 


$700, 000 

644,258 

166,411 

1, 544, 400 

1,218,774 

1,418,421 

1,448,663 

1,357,365 

828, 249 

822, 023 

1,071,365 

2,340,713 

2,347,687 

2,086,193 

1,357,443 

1,606,082 

1,340,096 

1,491,341 

1,788,335 

1,480,640 

2,014,370 

1,744,489 

1,053,354 

432, 180 

225,270 

199, 530 

318, 176 

300, 631 

521,118 

297, 600 

288, 752 

437, 112 

719,040 

770, 848 

721, 175 

566, 754 

388,800 

508, 920 


4, 367 

4,430 

8,686 

16,911 

5, 336 

5,229 

5,825 

5,033 

5,515 

5,210 

5,540 

8,557 

8,418 

10, 382 

15, 581 

16, 587 

16,971 

23,040 

28,494 

30,628 

36,389 

29,858 

40, 814 

59,568 

46, 642 

30, 812 

61,838 

56, 291 

43,91^ 

24Jir 

34, 168 
35, 191 
24,050 
22,812 
27,000 
11,523 
12,660 


$8, 734 

8,860 

21,715 

40,586 

12,806 

20,886 

49, 513 

45,297 

28, 954 

31,260 

38, 780 

111,241 

117,852 

80,979 

79,463 

104, 498 

114,554 

149, 760 

199,458 

235, 836 

283,834 

291,116 

620, 403 

938, las' 

792>l4 

38^150 

>R1,0&3 

^576, 983 

~ 351,336 

158, 158 

185, 588 

350, 222 

563,056 

366, 763 

439, 131 

499,500 

232,140 

253, 200 


144,367 
90,331 
32. 459 
119,871 
114, 155 
114,346 
116,410 
111,493 
100, 172 
89, 520 
114,863 
119,068 
114, 136 
115,445 
115, 393 
96, 096 
122,405 
128, 064 
133,£45. 
136, 388 
■ 139, 693 
132,475 
69,673 
73, 974 
54, 151 
38, 202 
76,871 
71, 137 
74, 571 
43, 532 
46, 599 
50, 980 
57,661 
47,116 
44,994 
46,292 
24,483 
25,383 


$708, 734 


1869 


653, 118 


1870 


188, 126 


1871 


1,584,986 


1872 


1,231,580 


1873 


1,439,307 


1874 


1,498,176 


1875 


1,402,662 


1876 


857, 203 


1877 


853,283 


1878 


1, 110, 145 


1879 


2,451,954 


1880 

1881 

1882 

1883 

1884 

1885 

1886 

1887 

1888 

1889 


2, 465, 539 
2, 167, 172 
1,436,906 
1, 710, 580 
1,454,650 
1,641,101 
— 1,987, 793 
1,716,476 
2,298,204 
2,035,605 


1890 

1891 

1892 


1,673,757 
1, 370, 376 
1,018,184 


1893 


584, 680 


1894 


859, 259 


1895 


877,614 


1896 


872,454 


1897 


455, 758 


1898 


474,340 


1899 


787, 334 


1900 


1,282,096 


1901 


1,137,611 


1902 


1,160,306 


1903 


1,066,254 


1904 


620, 940 


1905 


762, 120 






Total 


2,488,627 


38,566,578 


857, 157 


9,329,805 


3, 345, 784 


47,896,383 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 33 

At one time it was thought that the problem of furnishing a perma- 
nent supply of food for the natives on the Pribilof and Aleutian groups 
could be solved by salting the carcasses of the fur seals and shipping 
these to the various settlements. In 1880, 1 ,000,000 pounds, valued at 
$10,000, were so prepared, but owing to the fact that the meat did not 
keep very well, and to other causes, the project was soon abandoned. 
The natives living on the Pribilof group, however, still depend quite 
largely upon the seal carcasses for food. 

MISCELLANEOUS AQUATIC ANIMALS. 

Grrampus. — This mammal, commonly known as the beluga in 
Alaska, is quite abundant in the summer along the Alaskan coast 
north of the Aleutian chain, being particularly numerous about the 
mouths of rivers and frequently ascending the larger streams far 
above tide water. It is migratory, and its movements are regulated 
by the ice. The numerous tidal creeks along the l6w fiat coast from 
wSt. Michaels to the Kuskoquim River, in which tomcods are abundant, 
are the chief resort of the beluga, which comes in to feed on the fish. 
The Eskimos catch them with strong, large-meshed nets, heavily 
weighted, set off outlying points. In rough weather, when the ani- 
mals can not see the nets, many are taken, but in clear weather the 
catch is small. Some are speared, some shot, but unless the shot goes 
through the spinal column these generally escape. The flesh of a young 
beluga is tender and not unpalatable, but is rather coarse and dry. 
The fat, or blubber, is clear and white and is highly valued by the 
natives, who extract the oil from it and use it in barter with the inte- 
rior tribes. The intestines are made into waterproof garments or 
floats, and the sinews are very much prized. The small ivory teeth 
are carved into toys or ornamental pendants, while the skin is made 
into strong lines or very durable boot soles. The epidermis, which is 
nearly half an inch thick, when well cooked is considered choice eat- 
ing, having a flavor somewhat resembling chestnuts. 

Hair seals. — While these animals form a very insignificant part of 
the commerce in which the white traders participate, owing to the 
fact that their fur is worthless, they are of immense importance to the 
natives, for from the flesh and oil is secured a considerable part of 
their winter food, while the skins are highly prized for covering the 
kyacks and umiaks and for boot soles, trousers, mittens, clothing 
bags, and caps, and when cut into strips make a very strong and dura- 
ble cord. The skin in its raw state is thick and unwieldy, but when 
nicely tanned becomes soft and pliable. The coast natives also 
barter the flesh, oil, and skins with the interior tribes for reindeer 
hides and furs, thus creating a very important branch of trade, of 
which it is impossible to form an idea, owing to the inaccessibility of 



34 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

most of the tribes. The very fragmentary record kept of the skins 
sold to white traders shows that in 1889, 3,500 skins, valued at $7,000, 
in 1890, 3,444, valued at $6,888, and in 1905, 9,098 skins, valued at 
$5,554, were so disposed of. These meager figures are probably too 
low. 

The species taken are the bearded seal ( Erignathus harbatus) ; the 
ribbon seal {Phoca fasciata) , a rare species; the ringed seal {PTioca 
foetida) , the vaost common; the harp seal {Phoca grcenlandica) , quite 
rare; and the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), which is quite common 
and the most widely distributed. 

When the ice leaves the coast the natives hunt the seals in kyacks, 
using a light spear or a rifle. At this season many of the ringed seal 
are found upon the ice packs well offshore and are taken by the Eskimo 
in a curious manner. The latter wear a shirt made of white sheeting, 
and, paddling cautiously up to a piece of ice on which the seals are 
gathered, are enarbled by means of the disguise to land and get among 
the seals without alarming them, and sometimes kill quite a number 
with a club before the herd takes flight. When the cold storms of 
September set in the seals return along shore again and seek refuge in 
the inner bays and sheltered coves. At this season the natives set 
many rawhide nets with large meshes off the rocky points, and large 
numbers are taken thus. Later, when the sea is frozen over, nets 
are set about the holes which the seals make in order to be able to 
come to the surface to breathe. Many of the seals also are killed at 
these holes by the hunters armed with spears. 

Steller's sea lion. — This animal, which at one time was extremely 
abundant on the Pribilof Islands and along the Aleutian chain, is now 
almost extinct. A few still haul up on the former islands, but they 
are becoming less and less each year, a fact which means a serious loss 
to the natives, as they made more use of this animal than of any other 
they hunted. Its skin, flesh, intestines, bones, sinews, and oil all came 
into play as food or in the primitive manufactures. The skins were 
considered an indispensable covering for the umiak, or large canoe, 
used in hunting, and after the animal became practically extinct on 
the Aleutian chain the traders imported such skins from the coast of 
Lower California and Mexico for the use of their hunters. The sea 
lion never became other than a subject of intertribal barter. 

Walrus. — This enormous mammal, which is not found south of the 
Bering Sea shore of the Aleutian chain, was at one time very numer- 
ous north of there, and the hunting of it and the seal formed the prin- 
cipal occupation of the Eskimos during the summer. It goes north as 
the ice breaks up in spring and returns again in the fall, stopping but 
a short time at any spot, and keeping close to the ice pack all this 
time. When in the water it is hunted by the Eskimos in kyacks, with 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 35 

ivory-pointed spears and seal-skin line and floats. When the animal 
is exhausted by its efforts to escape the hunters draw near and give 
the death stroke with a lance. 

According to The Friend, published at Honolulu, Hawaii, March 1, 
1872, the whalers began to turn their attention to walrus-catching 
about the year 1868. During the first part of every season there is 
but little opportunity to capture whales, they being within the limits 
of the icy barrier. As a result, much of the whaler's time during 
July and August was devoted to capturing walruses. Men would be 
landed on the shore in June and left to watch for the animals to haul 
up on the beach at certain points. The walrus must either come 
ashore or get on the ice, and when a herd is well ashore one or two old 
bulls are generally left on watch. The best shot among the hunters 
now creeps up, and by a successful rifle shot or two kills the guard. 
Owing to their very defective hearing, the noise made by the rifle 
does not awake them. The gun is then put aside and each hunter, 
armed with a sharp ax, approaches the sleeping animals and cuts the 
spines of as many of them as possible before the others become 
alarmed and stampede for the water and escape. 

The white hunters rarely make use of anything but the two long, 
curved tusks with which the animal is equipped and which average 
about 5 pounds to the pair. If time permits, however, the flesh is 
boiled and the oil saved. To many of the Eskimos, especially on the 
Arctic shore, the walrus is almost a necessity of life, and the devasta- 
tion wrought among the herds by the whalers has been, and is yet, the 
cause of fearful suffering and death to many of the natives. The 
flesh is food for men and dogs; the oil also is used for food and for 
lighting and heating the houses; the skin, when tanned and oiled, 
makes a durable cover for the large skin boats; the intestines make 
waterproof clothing, window-covers, and floats; the tusks are used for 
lance or spear points or are carved into a great variety of useful and 
ornamental objects, and the bones are used to make heads for spears 
and for other purposes. At the present time the Kuskoquim district 
is the only one in which the walrus is fairly common. 

In addition to hunting the walrus themselves, the whalers also pur- 
chase from the Eskimos the tusks, or ivory, that they have secured. 
The table on page 36 shows the quantity and value of walrus oil and 
ivory secured since 1868. Part of this was undoubtedly secured from 
the natives of ^Siberia, but that is more than offset by the large quan- 
tity which has been brought down by the whalers and not reported. 



36 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

Walrus Ivory and Oil Secured in Alaska, 1868 to 1905. 



Year. 


Ivory. 


Oil. 


Year. 


Ivory. 


Oil. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


Gallons. 


Value. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


Gallons. 


Value. 


1868 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

1875 


40,000 
70,000 
63,800 
37,600 
32,000 
44,000 
33,000 
25,400 
31,500 
74,000 
30,000 
38,318 
24, 650 
19, 475 
22, 085 
27, 725 
7,026 
6,564 
3. 5.50 
6, 730 


$2,000 
3, .500 
3,190 
3,760 
3,200 
4,400 
3,300 
3,810 
4,725 

14,800 
6,000 

19, 159 

24,650 

19, 475 
22,085 

20, 794 
7,020 
6,564 
3,550 
5, 384 


173,000 

.303,000 

315,000 

189, 000 

160,000 

220, ,500 

165,000 

126,000 

157,500 

221,000 

125,000 

190,000 

127,000 

84, 392 

95, 702 

120, 142 

30, 446 

28, 444 

15,383 

29, 163 


S86. 500 

166,650 

163,800 

101,200 

128,000 

50,000 

74, 2.50 

81,900 

157,500 

44,200 

56,2.50 

76,000 

57, 1.50 

60, 762 

38, 281 

108, 128 

15,527 

12,800 

5,692 

16,040 


1888 

1889 

1890 

1891 

1892 

1893 

1894 

1895a 


5,158 
6,228 
5,799 
5,200 
4,800 
7,900 
12,313 


$5, 158 
4,982 
4,639 
3,900 
3,360 
6,320 
9,850 


22,351 

26,988 
25, 129 
20,000 
18, 196 
21,400 
15,100 


SIO, 505 
13,594 
9,549 
9,800 
8,006 
9,630 
5,534 


1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1880 

1881 

1882 

1883 

1884 

1885 


1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

Total.. 


10, 000 
41,714 
25, 700 
22,300 
5,969 
7,000 
12, 491 
14,100 
8,500 
11,335 


8,000 

31,286 

17,990 

16, 725 

5,969 

7,000 

9, 993 

11,985 

6,800 

8,213 


12, 444 
8,400 
5,111 
6,310 
2,200 
1,200 
1,800 
700 
1,000 


4,604 
3,360 
1,845 
2, 330 

880 
480 
792 
280 
400 








1887 


843,930 343,542 


3,064,001 


1,582,219 



a Data missing. 

Whales. — Whaling at the present time is participated in to a very 
hmited extent by the natives of Alaska, the Eskimos living along the 
Arctic coast being the only ones engaged. At one time, however, 
the natives of the Aleutian chain and the shores of Bering Sea fol- 
lowed whaling whenever possible during the summer months. As 
from the beginning, almost all of the whaling is done by the fleet 
which rendezvous at San Francisco. About 1867 from 10 to 12 of 
these whalers visited what are known as the Kadiak grounds, but this 
ground was soon exhausted and the whole fleet now works exclusively 
in the Arctic. Large numbers of humpback whales {Megaptera ver- 
sahilis) are to be seen during the summer months in southeast Alaska, 
but no effort is made to capture them. The bowhead {Balxna mys- 
ticetus) is the common Arctic whale, and the one generally secured by 
the whalers, although a few right whales {Balsena sieholdii) are taken 
in certain seasons. The principal object of whale fishing at the pres- 
ent time is the whalebone, which brings as much as $5 per pound in 
the markets. As the whaling fleet generally pursues its prey in the 
open sea and has its headquarters outside of Alaska, its work does 
not come within the scope of this report except as it deals with the 
natives. 

The belt of open water bordering the American coast from Icy 
Cape to the mouth of the Colville River is a favorite resort for whales 
during the latter part of summer and until winter sets in. From Icy 
Cape to Point Barrow the coast is low and sandy and backed by 
shallow lagoons, its southern portion being known to whalemen as the 
"graveyard," owing to the great number of vessels that have been 
wrecked there. It is along this stretch of coast that the natives do 
their whaling. In April the ice pack begins to loosen, and soon there 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 37 

are cracks, or "leads," as they are called, open 6 or 7 miles from the 
shore, extending often for miles parallel to the land, but continually 
changing, frequently disappearing altogether as the wind veers. It is 
in these "leads " of open water that the whales work their wslj to their 
unknown breeding grounds in the northeast, passing by Point Barrow 
chiefly during the months of May and June. 

Each village fits out as many boats as it can supply with crews. 
The crews, 8 or 10 men to the boat, or occasionally women when men 
are scarce, are selected during the winter. The owner, who is always 
the captain and steersman, sometimes hires them outright, paying 
them with goods, and sometimes he allows them to share in the 
profits; he always feeds them while the boat is in commission. The 
harpooner is posted in the bow, while another man, armed with a 
bomb gun, is located amidships. As soon as a whale is seen the boat 
is launched and the pursuit begun. Instead of harpooning the whale 
and keeping the end of the line fast in the boat, which the whale is 
compelled to drag about until the crew can manage to haul up and 
lance him to death, as is the practice of the white whalers, the Eski- 
mos have but a short line attached to each harpoon, to the end of 
which are fastened two floats made of whole sealskins inflated, which 
are thrown overboard as soon as the harpoon is fixed in the whale. 
Each boat carries four or five harpoons, and as many boats as possible 
crowd around and endeavor to drive a harpoon into the whale each 
time he comes to the surface, until he can dive no longer and lies 
upon the water ready for the death stroke, which is given with a lance. 
Occasionally an opportunity occurs to use the bomb gun as soon as 
the whale is struck, and the contest is then ended at once. As soon 
as killed, the whale is towed to the edge of the solid floe and the work 
of cutting him up begins. The skin, blubber, and flesh, according to 
a custom universal among the Eskimos, belong to the whole com- 
munity, no matter who killed it, but at Point Barrow the whalebone 
must be equally divided among all the boats that were in sight when 
the whale was killed. Everything is soon carried home to the village. 
The blubber is not tried out, but is packed away in bags made of 
whole sealskins, and with the meat is stowed away in little under- 
ground chambers, of which there are many in the villages. 

There is very little data showing the extent of the whaling as fol- 
lowed by the Eskimos. In 1891 they took from 10 to 15 whales, 
while in 1892 — a very poor season, owing to the large quantities of ice 
on the eastern shore at the time the whales w^ere passing north — about 
15,000 pounds of whalebone were secured. In 1905, 8,057 pounds of 
bone, valued at $51,197, were taken. All of the bone secured by the 
natives is sold to the whaling vessels, and it is very probable that 
large quantities so obtained in barter are reported at the home port as 
part of the catch of the vessel. In 1880 it is estimated that natives 



38 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

put up 5,000 gallons of whale oil, valued at $500. During the period 
from 1883 to 1889, both inclusive, the Alaska Commercial. Company 
shipped 33 packages of whalebone from Alaska. The weight and 
value of the packages are not given. In 1882, 166 barrels and m 
1889, 13 barrels of whale oil were shipped from Alaska by the same 
company. 

GENERAL STATISTICS FOR 1905. 

The fisheries of Southeast Alaska in 1905 were canvassed by the 
writer in person; the figures for the salmon fisheries of Central and 
Western Alaska are compiled from the reports sent in by the canneries 
and salteries to the agent at the salmon fisheries of Alaska; data for 
the cod and other fisheries of the same sections were secured either 
by personal interviews or by correspondence with the o^\^lers of 
fishing vessels and stations, nearly all of whom are located either in 
California or Washington ; the yield of fur seals from the Pribilof 
group was obtained from the report of the agent at the fur seal 
islands, and of the balance of the fur seals and the other aquatic furs 
and skins, also the whalebone, walrus ivory, etc., from the custom- 
house records at Juneau, Alaska. The custom-house records show 
the fiscal year (1904-5) ; all other data in the following tables rep- 
resent the calendar year 1905. 

In order that the data might be shown with greater clearness, the 
district has been divided into four geographical sections. Southeast 
Alaska embraces all that narrow strip of mainland and the numerous 
islands adjacent, from Portland Canal northwestward to, but not 
including, Yakutat Bay; Central Alaska embraces everything on the 
Pacific, or south, side from Yakutat Bay westward, including the 
Aleutian chain ; Western Alaska the shores of Bering Sea and islands 
in this sea; and Arctic Alaska, from Bering Strait to the Canadian 
border. As these divisions are already quite generally recognized 
throughout the district, their use here will not be confusing. 

The number of persons employed was 11,467, of which 4,028 
were engaged directly in fishing and 6,856 in the canneries, salteries, 
and other shore work, while 583 were employed on the transportmg 
vessels. In the salmon fishery the employees of the cannery or salt- 
ery are usually taken to the latter place aboard a sailing vessel, which 
remains until the season's work is ended, when she returns to the 
home port with the employees and the season's pack. Wliile lying 
idle during the fishing season most of the crew, not being needed 
aboard the ship, are employed as fishermen, and have been counted as 
such, thus materirlly reducing the number of transporters. 

The total investment in the fisheries was $22,038,485, of which 
Western Alaska furnished more than one-half. The only fishing ves- 
sels (for herring and halibut) are those in Southeast Alaska. An 
important feature is the large number of transporting vessels — 185 — 
with a tonnage of 67,109 and a value of $3,112,307. Nearly all of 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 39 

these vessels are employed in tlie salmon industry. In number gill 
nets lead the other forms of apparatus, but are not so effective as the 
traps. 

In variety of products secured, Southeast Alaska leads all the other 
divisions. This is largely owing to its greater accessibility and to the 
fact that its fisheries have been worked for a much longer period than 
the others. The halibut, herring, and trout fisheries are confined 
entirely to this section. The cod fishery proper is confined to Central 
Alaska, only a few thousand pounds being secured incidentally in 
Southeast Alaska. Western Alaska leads in the value of salmon 
canned. The only products given for Arctic Alaska are walrus skins, 
whalebone, walrus ivory, and a whale's head and skull, the latter 
being a natural-history specimen. Owing to the inaccessibility of 
the greater part of Western and Arctic Alaska, practically nothing is 
done during the winter and early spring months, but as soon as the ice 
breaks up in the spring the trading vessels make their rounds of the 
native villages and camps and collect the skins and furs which the 
natives have taken during the winter and ship these to Pacific coast 
ports. On account of this method of handling the business, the fiscal 
year is the better way of showing the year's catch in this section, as 
one whole season thus appears, and not parts of two seasons, which 
would be the case were the calendar year shown. It was found an 
imjwssibility to secure anything like accurate data as to the persons 
employed or the investment in the business of hunting aquatic animals, 
as it is prosecuted in conjunction with that for land animals, such as 
bear, marten, mink, l}mx, etc., and seems to be general among the 
natives. Neither has anything been shown of the fishermen and 
investment in the Arctic region, owing to the impossibility of securing 
even approximate data on such matters. The natives keep no rec- 
ords, and besides are in many instances migratory in their habits, thus 
making it an impossibility to keep track of them. 

The total quantity of products secured amounted to 117,247,398 
pounds, valued at $7,711,981. As it was found necessary to show 
in full the prepared products, the figures given represent dressed 
and cured weights, and not that of the products as taken from the 
water. There is a tremendous wastage in the Alaska fisheries, 
especially in that for salmon, fully one-third of the round weight of 
the latter fish being thrown away in the process of dressing and 
packing. Had the round weight for all species been shown in the 
table the total would have been about 155,000,000 pounds. The 
salmon and herring fisheries of Alaska are carried on in a somewhat 
different manner from that followed in other parts of the country. 
Owing to the lack of what might be called '^ resident fishermen" in 
the district, the canneries and guano factory have to do their own 
fisliing, and in order to accomplish this import the necessary fisher- 
men from the Pacific coast states each season. These men are fur- 



40 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



nished with fishing gear, boats, lodging, and food throughout the 
season, and are paid either a certain sum per thousand for each 
species of salmon (the price paid varying from place to place) or else 
straight wages. At the end of each season the men are returned to 
the point from whence they sailed. On account of this procedure 
it has been found impossible to secure even approximately correct 
data as to the cost of the fish as taken from the water for the salmon 
canneries and the one guano factory, and their products have been 
shown as marketed. So far as the salted salmon and herring and 
other species are concerned, the data given is in the same form as 
shown for other sections of the country in the reports of the Bureau. 
The tables follow. 

Persons Employed in the Alaska Fisheries in 1905. 



How engaged. 


Southeast 
Alaska. 


Central 
Alaska. 


Western 
Alaska. 


Total. 


Fishermen: 

Whites 


543 

1,147 

9 


658 
129 


1,470 
72 


2,671 
1,348 


Natives 




9 










Total 


1,699 


787 


1,542 


4,028 






Shoresmen: 

Whites 

Natives ... . 


457 
512 
375 
208 


329 
103 
552 
208 
30 


902 

374 

1,591 

1,215 


1,688 
989 




2,518 




1,631 


Mexicans 


30 










Total. 


1,552 


1,222 


4,082 


6,856 




Transporters: 

Whites '. 


187 
10 


184 


202 


573 


Natives 


10 




1 




Total 


197 


184 


202 


583 








3,448 


2,193 


5,826 


11,467 







Apparatus and Capital Engaged in the Alaska Fisheries in 1905. 



Items. 


Southeast 
Alaska. 


Central Alaska. 


Western Alaska. 


Total. 


Num- 
ber. 


Value. 


Num- 
ber. 


Value. 


Num- 
ber. 


Value. 


"be"- Value. 


Fishing vessels: 

Steam and other power. . 
Tonnage 


8 

209 

8 

81 

59 

1,221 

10 

6,456 

794 

6 


849,775 


\ 








8 

209 

8 

81 

131 

5,758 

54 

61,351 

2,039 

6 


$49,775 














5,550 










5,550 


Tonnage 












Transporting vessels: 

Steamers and launches . . 
Tonnage 


261,450 


27 

921 

12 

14,207 

317 


$276,300 


45 

3,616 

32 

40,688 

928 


$1,023,357 


1,561,107 


Sailing 


143,200 


328,000 


1,080,000 


1,551,200 


Tonnage 




Boats 


100,685 

5,000 
2,494 

16,075 

44,950 

25,050 

164,000 

5,381 

1,842,550 

1,374,978 


84,555 


237,782 


423,022 


Apparatus, vessel fisheries: 


5,000 
2,494 


Lines .... 




* 






Apparatus, shore fisheries: 
Haul seines . . . 


57 
123 
197 

32 


44 

1 

48 

23 


21,000 

1,000 

2,780 

24,000 

10,500 

3, 147, 144 

1,756,404 






101 

124 

1,154 

70 


37,075 








45,950 


Gill nets. . . . 


909 
15 


57,577 
19,300 


85,407 


Traps 


207,300 


Lines 


15,881 


Cash capital 






7,023,506 
2,904,142 




12,013,200 


Shore and accessory property 




6,035,524 


Total 




4,041,138 




5,651,683 




12,345,664 




22,038,485 









COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 
Products of the Alaska Fisheries in 1905. 



41 



Species. 


Southeast Alaska. 


Central Alaska. 


Western Alaska. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


Codfish: 

Fresh 


3,200 
3,650 


$99 
136 










Salted 


5,492,000 
2,060 
7,975 


$180,710 
82 
432 






Codfish roe, salted 




Codfish tonsaies, salted 










Halibut : 

Fresh 


3,144,614 

316,341 

16 

1,213,845 

46, 713 

1,880,700 

24,435 

2,618,000 

1,074,150 

280,444 

22,334 
16,348 
21,643 

531,792 
1,807,980 
6,816,384 

262,080 
9,954,000 

45,000 

7, 122, 160 

346,600 

129,874 

400 

17, 013 

7,000 
255,000 


85,326 
12,641 

1 

48,554 

2,382 

10,331 

1,534 

32,725 

35,805 

15, 773 

893 
654 
866 

215,875 
102,207 
420,614 
21, 733 
723,937 

1,452 

106,320 

10,654 

9,212 

12 

1,155 

210 
10,400 
















Canned 










Salted 










Smoked 










Herring: 

Salted 




















Herring guano 




















Salmon: 











Frozen- 










Humpback 






................... 












Canned — 

Coho 


792,864 


51,543 


470,256 

205,776 

1,120,992 

1,451,424 

49,030,944 


$31,542 


Dog 


10,849 


Humpback 


155, 280 

308,496 

16,582,800 

3,600 


9,058 

20,567 

1,174,615 

144 


68,522 


King 


99,699 


Sockeye 


3,436,995 


Salted— 

Coho 




Dog 






Humpback 










King 






91,200 
3,355,600 


3,224 








128,436 


Smoked 








Salmon bellies, salted: 

Coho 






3,800 


285 










King 






2,700 
3,600 


190 


Sockeye 










270 


Trout: 


12,306 

32,000 

100 

21,413 

799 


738 

1,569 

5 

735 

3,952 
18 

7,109 








Other- 
Fresh 




















Fish oil other than herring 










Aquatic furs and skins: 


435 
598 

1,585 
300 


1,873 
258 

3,930 
11,867 


701 
961 

1,220 
5 

76,368 
3,267 


2,446 




18 


916 


Otter- 


1,927 


3,419 


Sea 


2,000 


Seal- 
Fur 


5,028 

23,688 

90 


7,138 


508, 945 


Hair 


4,512 


399 


139 
71 


903 




75 129 












Total 


38,059,085 1.897.352 23.348.521 


1,455,289 


55,818,814 


4,298,641 













42 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 
Products of the Alaska Fisheries in 1905 — Continued. 



Species. 



Arctic Alaska. 



Pounds. 



V'alue. 



Total. 



Pounds. 



Value. 



Codfish: 

Fresh 

Salted 

Codfish roe, salted 

Codfish tongues, salted 

Halibut: 

Fresh 

Frozen 

Canned 

Salted 

Smoked 

Herring: 

Salted 

Smoked 

Herring guano 

Herring oil 

Salmon: 

Fresh, king 

Frozen — 

Coho 

Humpback 

King 

Canned— 

Coho 

Dog 

Humpback 

King 

Sockeye 

Salted— 

Coho 

Dog 

Humpback 

King 

Sockeye 

Smoked 

Salmon bellies, salted: 

Coho 

Humpback 

King 

Sockeye 

Trout: 

Steelhead, frozen 

Other- 
Fresh 

Frozen 

Fish oil other than herring. 
Aquatic furs and skins: 

Beaver 

Muskrat 

Otter- 
Land 

Sea 

Seal- 
Fur 

Hair 

Walrus 

Walrus ivory 

Whalebone 

Whale's head and skull 



Total. 



25 
11,046 
8,057 
1,850 



810 

7,992 

51, 197 

1,500 



3,200 

5,495,650 

2,060 

7,975 

3,144,614 

316,341 

16 

1,213,845 

46, 713 

1,880,700 

24, 435 

2, 618, 000 

a 1,074, 150 

280,444 

22, 334 
16,348 
21,643 

1,794,912 
2, 013, 756 
8, 092, 656 
2, 022, 000 
75,567,744 

48,600 

7, 122, 160 

346,600 

221,074 

3,356,000 

17,013 

10,800 

255,000 

2,700 

3,600 

12,306 

32,000 

100 

6 21,413 

c 1,935 
d 1, 577 

'4,732 
/305 

9 81,396 

h 27, 354 

i25 

11,265 

8,057 

n,850 



20, 978 



60, 699 



117,247,398 



180,846 
82 
432 

85,326 
12,641 
1 
48,554 
2,382 

10,331 

1,534 

32,725 

35,805 

15,773 

893 
654 
866 

298,960 
113,056 
498, 194 
141,999 
5,335,547 

1,596 

106,320 

10, 654 

12, 436 

128,448 

1,155 

495 

10,400 

190 

270 

738 

1,569 

5 

735 

8,271 
1,192 

14,458 
13,867 

516,083 

5,554 

10 

8,138 

51, 197 

1,500 



7,711,981 



a Represents 143,220 gallons. 
t> Represents 2,855 gallons. 
c Represents 1,935 skins. 
d Represents 12,599 skins. 



e Represents 1,889 skins. 
/Represents 61 skins. 
g Represents 13,566 skins. 



A Represents 9,098 skins. 

i Represents 1 skin. 

i A natural-history specimen. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



43 



The following table shows in greater detail than the preceding the 
number of cases (together with the size and style of cans) of each 
species of salmon canned, and the value of same: 

Output of Salmon from Alaska Cannekies in 1905. 



Species. 


Southeast Alaska. 


Central Alaska. 


Western Alaska. 


Total. 


Cases. 


Value. 


Cases. 


Value. 


Cases. 


Value. 


Cases. 


Value. 


Coho: 

J pouiid, fiat . . . . 


516 

394 

40, 169 


$1, 754 

1,340 

129,696 










516 

394 

66,484 


$1,754 


1 pound, flat . . . . 










1,340 


1 pound, tall . . . . 


16,518 


851,543 


9,797 


$31,542 


212, 781 


Total 


41,079 


132, 790 


16,518 


51,543 


9,797 


31,542 


67,394 


215,875 




Dog, or chum: 1 
pound, tall 

Humpback: 1 pound, 
tall 


37,685 
142,008 


102, 207 
420,614 






4,287 
23,354 


10,849 
68,522 


41,972 
168,597 


113,056 
498, 194 


3,235 


9,058 






King: 

1 pound, flat. . . . 


4,248 
1,212 


17,585 
4,148 










4,248 
37,877 


17,585 


1 pound, tall 


6,427 


20,567 


30,238 


99,699 


124, 414 


Total 


5,460 


21, 733 


6,427 


20,567 


30, 238 


99,699 


42,125 


141,999 






Sockeye: 

i pound, flat. . . . 


12,915 
18, 725 
175, 735 


46,674 
67,410 
609, 853 




\ 




12,915 

18,725 

1,542,788 


46, 674 


1 pound, flat. . . . 




1 




67,410 


1 pound, tall. . . . 


345, 575 


1,174,615 


1,021,478 


3,436,995 


5,221,463 


Total 


207,375 


723,937 


345,575 


1,174,615 


1,021,478 


3,436,995 


1,574,428 


5,335,547 






Grand total 


433,607 


1,401,281 


371, 755 


1,255,783 


1,089,154 


3,647,607 


1,894,516 


6,304,671 



OTHER FISHERY RESOURCES OF ALASKA. 

By no means are all of the fishery resources of the district utilized 
even yet. The lakes, streams, and coastal waters teem with the 
steelhead, Dolly Varden, cutthroat, rainbow, and lake trouts, but the 
steelhead is the only one shipped, a small quantity being frozen each 
season. The lake trout (Cristivomer namaycusK) is abundant in the 
Yukon River, and large quantities are caught and sold fresh in the 
mining to^\^ls along the river. Other fresh-water species are the com- 
mon pike ( Esox lucius) ; the arctic grayling ( Thymallus signifer) ; 
seven species of white-fish ( Coregonus) , nearly all of which are impor- 
tant articles of food to the natives living along the rivers entering 
Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, who generally catch them with gill 
nets set under the ice and in traps; the inconnu {Stenodus mackenzii) , 
which attains a length of 5 feet and a weight of 50 pounds; smelt 
(Hypomesus olidus), which are very abundant and used as food both 
fresh and dried; burbot or losh {Lota maculatus); sucker (Oatostomus 
longirostris) , and the lamprey {Amrnoccetus aureus), of which a vast 
quantity is captured through the ice on the Yukon River each season 
by the natives and frozen for future use. The eulachon, or candle- 
fish ( ThaleicJithys pacificus), is one of the best known of the anadro- 
mus species, but appears to be abundant in Alaskan rivers only at 



44 COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 

infrequent periods. It has been reported at times as occurring in 
great abundance in the Stikine, Unuk, and Chilkat rivers, and in the 
rivers entering into Cook Inlet. It is much prized by the natives 
because of its oiliness. 

In the (for Alaska) densely populated delta between the mouths of 
the Kuskoquim and Yukon rivers a small hlack-^sh {Dallia pectoralis) 
is exceedingly abundant and forms the principal food of the natives 
during the winter months. This fish does not exceed 5 or 6 inches in 
length, but is very fat, and, in addition to using it whole as food, the 
natives try out from it a pellucid oil of which they are excessively 
fond. 

Among the sea fishes not described elsewhere in this report and 
at present of commercial importance to the natives along shore or 
to the whites living in the vicinity of the fisheries are the fol- 
lowing : 

Atka mackerel {Pleurogrammus monopterygius) , which are not 
mackerel at all, merely resembling them in flavor, are quite abundant 
along the southern shore of the Aleutian chain, especially around the 
island of Attn. They run from May to December, being most plenti- 
ful in June, July, and August, and are found in greatest abundance 
among the kelp in from 3 to 40 fathoms. They retire to deep water 
in the winter. In length the fish average about 18 inches, with an 
average weight of about 2J pounds. They are an important article of 
food to the Aleutians, who also salt a few barrels annually which they 
seU to vessels calling at Dutch Harbor and Unalaska. The North 
American Commercial Company has experimented with these fish for 
some years and reports them as good food fish. In 1903 the Alaska 
Attn Mackerel Company was formed at Seattle, Wash., to engage in 
fishing for and curing this species, and during the same year put up 400 
half barrels as an experiment. There is no record of any subsequent 
operations of the company. The fishery will doubtless be a very 
important one some day. 

Black cod {Anoplopoma fimbria) and the cultus cod {Ophiodon 
elongatus) are very common in Southeastern Alaska and the Gulf of 
Alaska, and are excellent food fishes. The well-known redfish of 
Sitka (Sebastodes melanops) is one of several other species of rockfish 
found in Alaskan waters, and is exceedingly abundant in the Gulf of 
Alaska. Flounders seem to be abundant nearly everywhere. Scul- 
pins, capelin, and lance, or lant, are exceedingly abundant along the 
shore and make excellent bait ior the better species. 

Along the shores of Norton Sound occurs the tomcod ( Microgadus 
proximus), or wachna of the natives. This fish, which is very abun- 
dant in the fall and spring, is of immense importance to the natives, 
as they depend quite largely upon it for their winter's supply of food. 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



45 



At first it is caught from boats anchored close to the shore, but when 
the new ice becomes strong enough to hold them the natives erect 
stakes with mats hung between to keep off the wind, and fish through 
holes cut in the ice. The fish are allowed to freeze, and in that con- 
dition are stored away m suitable receptacles until needed. They 
also form an important article of dog feed. 

Throughout Southeastern Alaska clams are quite abundant. In 
1898 and 1899 the North Pacific Trading and Packing Company packed 
each year several hundred cases of clams and clam juice, but then 
abandoned the business for some unknown reason. The clams were 
packed in September, usually, as they were then in the best condition. 
In 1903 the Alaska Packing and Navigation Company built a small can- 
nery at Wrangell and put up about 20 cases that same year, but owing 
to lack of capital the cannery has not been operated since. In 1904, 
42 cases were put up by the Alaska Fish and Halibut Company on 
Wrangell Narrows. There is an excellent opening in this line for 
experienced persons with a moderate amount of capital. 

Along the Alaska peninsula and the Aleutian chain mussels, crabs, 
and shrimps are very abundant, and squid, octopus, and b^che-de- 
mer are quite numerous. All of these are at present utilized as food 
by the natives and a few of the whites, and large quantities are used 
as bait in the other fisheries. It is probable that when shipping 
facilities become better a trade in these products with Puget Sound 
ports can be buUt up. The natives also gather certain varieties of 
algae and, after drying them, store them away to be eaten in winter. 

FISHERIES CARRIED ON IN ALASKAN WATERS AND CREDITED 
TO PLACES OUTSIDE OF THE DISTRICT. 

Qod. — In addition to the cod fisheries carried on from the shore sta- 
tions there is a fleet of vessels which operate on the Alaskan banks, but 
as they hail from ports outside of Alaska they can not be credited to 
the district. The table below gives fuU data in regard to the opera- 
tions of these vessels during 1905. Their methods of work, etc., have 
already been described in fuU elsewhere in this report. 

Cod Fishing Conducted in Alaskan Waters in 1905 by Vessels from Outside 

Ports. 



Home port. 



Vessels. 



Num- 
ber. 



Ton- 
nage. 



Value. Crew, 



Lines. 



Salted codfish. 



Pounds. Value 



Ban Francisco, Cal 

Anacortes, Wash 

Seattle, Wash 

Tacoma, Wash 

Vancouver, British Colmnbia 

Total 



1,382 
849 
422 
195 



$88,380 
46,096 
31, 552 
8,512 
8,512 



201 
93 
70 
24 
24 



$1,260 

4, 600 

950 

1,200 

1,200 



2,800,000 

2,528,000 

948,000 

240,000 

312,000 



2,848 



183,052 



412 



9,210 



6,828,000 



$85,460 
76, 904 
28, 694 
7,320 
9,516 



207,894 



d 



46 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 1905. 



Halibut. — The above remarks on the codfish fleet from ports outside 
of Alaska apply equally well to the Puget Sound fleet operatmg in the 
waters of Southeast Alaska for halibut. Full information in regard to 
this fleet is given elsewhere in this report. The table below shows 
the number of vessels engaged in the fishery and the catch, together 
with all other necessary data. The catch of the sail and auxiliary 
power vessels in Alaskan waters has been taken from the custom- 
house records at Juneau, but the catch of the steamers had to be esti- 
mated, as these vessels return to their home port with their catch and 
lump the catch taken in Alaskan waters with that obtained outside. 

Halibut Fishing Conducted in Alaskan Waters in 1905 by Vessels from Outside 

Ports. 



Home port. 


Steamers. 


Sail and auxiliary 
power vessels. 


Crew. 


Lines. 


Fresh haUbut. 


Num- 
ber. 


Ton- 
nage. 


Value. 


Num- 
ber. 


Ton- 
nage. 


Value. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


Port Townsend, 
Wash 








■I 

28 

1 


40 

503 

17 


$2,710 

38,340 

1,030 


16 
187 
81 

58 


$1,050 
13, 180 
6,550 

2,700 








1 
2 

2 


128 
274 

130 


$45,600 
80,000 

60,000 






TacQcia, Wash 

Vancouver, Brit- 






















Total 


5 


532 


185,600 


33 


560 


42,080 


342 


23,480 


5,367,422 $161,023 



LE S '09 



i4 



I 



